Bleach HOTD
by Alpine992
Summary: Senior year was meant to breeze by, first Karakura High was burnt down and now the impending Zombie Apocalypse starts at Fujimi Academy. How will Ichigo along with his friends and students of Fujimi academy cope through the onslaught of 'them? No Soul Reaper powers.
1. Chapter 1

_"I really shouldn't have stayed up so late last night playing that Tekken game that Tatsuki lent me yesterday."_ Ichigo Kurosaki thought as his head drooped and his eyes fluttered as his teacher started to go over the complex equations on the board. He tried to prop his head up on his hand to pay attention but sleep was just to alluring, his eyes finally closed and his mind started to go blank before he finally fell asleep not knowing what hell he was going to wake up too. Earlier in the year Karakura High School had an unfortunate accident and the school had been burnt to the ground, luckily no one was hurt but that meant that the students had to come to a new school, a boarding school away from Karakura town known as Fujimi Academy.

Fujimi Academy is on a large campus with multiple buildings in a fenced and gated area. The main building and at least two other buildings are four stories tall and connected to each other by walkways on the 2nd and 4th floors. In addition to the main building where most classes are held, there is an administration office building, a dorm building, and a number of smaller buildings. The largest of these smaller buildings appears to be a gymnasium. On top of the administration office building there is an observatory which extends above the rest of the school and contains a large telescope and a room for Astronomy students to sleep in. The interior of the school looks like a typical school in that there are hallways lined with classrooms running throughout the building and many stairways in different locations around the school. It was a boarding school so none of the Karakura students had to worry about taking the long trip back to Karakura town they could just stay on campus.

The female students wear the sailor outfits and male students wear the military style gakuran. The sailor blouses are white with green collars and a black bow on the front and are paired with a green skirt. The gakuran are black and consist of a long-sleeved jacket and matching pants although some students have been shown without the jacket. While some wear long-sleeved white dress shirts underneath the jacket, there is not a strict dress code, as others wear a variety of shirts instead, Ichigo wears a his jacket open revealing a black undershirt.

Ichigo and his friends were in their senior year, this was going to be there last year before they went off to college, they had no idea they wouldn't make it to Graduation.

With a rough shove from Keigo Ichigo jolted awake only to see the class running from the room screams could be heard from down the hallway. Ichigo looked around to see Mizurio and Keigo with expressions of fear and concern all mixed into one.

"Ichigo, we have to get out of here." Mizurio told him as he stood up. "Something's happening we have to go!"

"Wait what?" Ichigo asked confused as he stood up towering over both of his friends. "What's going on?"

"We don't know for sure." Mizurio told him. "The headmaster came over the intercom... then."

"Then what?"

"He was attacked." Keigo finished for Mizurio. "We have to get out of here. We waited for the entire class to get out before waking you up. People were trampled in the halls, it was horrible."

"What do you mean he was attacked?" Ichigo asked.

"We don't know, we have to get out of here. Let's go!" Mizurio told him as they headed for the classroom door. "We need to find a place to hide out for a while, maybe find a way out of the school."

"What about the others?" Keigo asked. "Tatsuki, Orihime, Chad, Ishida all our friends Mizurio?"

"Chad was up on the roof." Ichigo told them. "Said he was ditching last period, he can more than likely handle himself against whatever..." He was cut off but a low groan and three heads turned back down the hallway, their blood ran cold at the sight. "The fuck is that?"

"We gotta go now! We will try to find anyone on the way out!" Mizurio told them, making both Ichigo and Keigo nod as they started to run down the hallway away from the shambling corpse that was walking after them.

* * *

Chad entered the woodwork room closing the door behind him, he had been up on the roof until he had heard the screams of panic and had gone down to see what was going on. After he had seen what was going on, he wished he had stayed on the roof. The hallways of the school were filled with gruesome sights, blood covered parts of the walls and floors. Corpse were walking and eating one another. He had to use all his self control not to vomit every step of the way. As he leaned up against the bench he tried to think about something else, anything else. He had no idea what was happening, he was up on the roof since he didn't want to go to his last class, Ichigo was meant to meet him up there but he had been too tired and decided to try and get through the class as fast as possible so he could go to the his dorm room and sleep.

As Chad was in thought the door slammed open snapping him out of his thoughts and looked up to see two people a girl and a boy, who looked to be shocked to see him. The girl has long pink hair which she keeps in two pony tails on either of her head. Her hair also has two thin, long bangs at the sides, two thin strands of hair over the left side of her forehead, and a spiky larger portion of hair covering the left side of her forehead. She has fierce orange eyes and furrowed eyebrows. Her physique is slender, however she has a large breast size. The teenage boy was slightly short, and a bit overweight for his age, with a shoulder-length hairstyle that has bangs reaching down from the side of his temples stretching outwards and obscuring the sides of his face. He is wearing the standard male student uniform of his school much like Chad was.

"Who are you?" The girl demanded.

"Takagi..." The boy started.

"Shut up you fat moron and close the door!" She barked at him and he did what he was told and the door closed with a snap. "Who are you?"

"I'm Yasutora Sado, my friends call me Chad." He is a teenager of Mexican descent. He is dark-skinned with wavy brown hair that generally hangs over his brown eyes. He is a muscular and extremely tall man and appears to be much older than he actually is. Sado has a tattoo on his left shoulder which reads Amore e Morte ("love and death" in Italian) and consists of a heart with a snake and angel wings around it and has a small goatee on his chin.

"Have you been bitten!" She snapped at him.

"No." He told her.

"My name's Hirano Kohta, it's nice to meet you Chad." Chad nodded in response.

"Takagi Saya, you can call me Takagi." Saya told him which he nodded again. "We're both second years."

"Senior." Chad told her.

"Hirano! Go find something we can use against 'them'." Takagi ordered and Hirano nodded before searching through the woodwork room. "Don't just stand there! Find something we can use against these stupid corpses! Unless you want to be one of them too!" Chad looked around before walking over to one of the wood work desks and flipping it over surprising both Hirano and Takagi of the teens strength before they watched him pick up a drill and began to unscrew one of the legs.

"Takagi, I found some stuff." Hirano told her as he placed another drill on the table, an air powered nail gun and a few other tools that he had found consisting of hammers and screwdrivers of different sizes.

"We should find a way out of the school." Chad told them.

"What about our friends?" Hirano asked. "I might not have many... but they are still our classmates."

"I agree with the fatty on this one. I need to find Komuro." Takagi told him.

"I also have friends I need to find." Chad told them. "But our safety should come first." Both Takagi and Hirano looked down.

"Your right." Takagi agreed. "Who knows they might already be safe." Chad nodded his head before their attention was brought to the door as 'them' started to bash and groan against it. Hirano was already picking up the nail gun as Chad readied the leg of the bench he had just unscrewed.

* * *

"You're kidding me!" Tatsuki said as Hisashi coughed up more blood, Tatsuki is a teenager of average height with black hair and blue eyes. She has a boyish look, and has a very lean frame,her hair is long, reaching down past her shoulders. "Your saying dead people are coming back to life? That makes no sense! That shit belongs in a movie or a video game!"

"It doesn't have to make sense!" Takashi snapped at her, Takashi is an average male high school student. He has brown eyes and spiky brown hair, his height is average, and he has a slender build. Takashi's is wearing his black school uniform with a red T-shirt underneath. "It's happening! Hisashi was just bitten not even twenty minutes ago." Takashi was holding a baseball bat covered in splatters of blood. The four of them Tatsuki, Rei, Hisashi and himself had made it to the rooftops. They had met up with Tatsuki just before heading to the roof.

"I guess it is just like in the movies." Hisashi groaned as he looked up to the sky. "One bite and it's over."

"What you see in the movies can't happen!" Rei cried out, Rei has long, light-brownish hair with bangs and two strands sticking out above the rest of her hair. She has reddish-brown eyes and a slender figure with ample breasts. She is dressed in her school uniform.. "Your going to be fine Hisashi! You're going to be ok!" She continued to cry. Tatsuki and Takashi looked back to where Rei and Hisashi were only to see Hisashi rear back and cough up more blood.

"This is happening Rei!" He wheezed out before turning to his friend. "Takashi... I need you to do something for me." He said while raising a shaking hand to where the ledge was. "The fall should smash my head."

"Hisashi no!" Rei screamed at him.

"I don't want to become one of them!" Hisashi roared before throwing up more blood. "I want to stay, myself until the end." With that Hisashi collapsed forward with a thud his body writhing underneath the pain as Rei cried trying to help him anyway she could. His body finally went still, Takashi was staring at the both of them with a soft expression while Tatsuki had looked away from the sight. Takashi saw his hand twitch and took a step forward.

"Get away from him Rei." Tatsuki looked back over her shoulder to see Takashi raising his bat as he walked forward.

"He's not turning! He's not!" Rei shouted as she tried to shield Hisashi from Takashi.

"Get away from him Rei." Takashi repeated as Hisashi started to get up, his skin a deathly gray.

"Look he's getting up... he's getting better... see..." Rei said turning back to look at Hisashi who was now standing and a low groan escaped his lips. "Hisashi." Hisashi let out another low groan and Rei got on her feet and took a step back before Takashi pulled her away from him. Tatsuki got her in a grip as Takashi raised his baseball bat and Rei tried to get out of Tatsuki's grip with no progress.

"I know you can't believe it." Takashi said. "I can't believe it."

"Takashi no!"

"But it's happening." Takashi said as he readied to strike. "It's happening!" He shouted as he ran forward his bat connecting with Hisashi's head, blood splattering on the wall of the observatory as the corpse of his best friend fell to the ground. The sound of Rei's scream echoed throughout the entire school as Tatsuki let her fall to her knees crying. The rooftop was silent Takashi hadn't moved from where he was standing above Hisashi, Tatsuki had gone and sat up against the wall bringing her knees up to her chest her head resting on her knees trying to figure out what was going on. Rei had tears running down her face as she cried before turning to Takashi.

"Why?" Was all that she could manage and Takashi looked back over his shoulder at her.

"He would have bitten you." Takashi told her.

"You don't know that!" She yelled. "And even if he did it would have been better then to be living like this!" She continued to yell at him. Takashi turned away from her before heading to the barricade they had set up with desks that blocked the staircase. "Where are you going!"

"It's obvious you don't want me around anymore... I'm going down there to smash as many as I can." Takashi said as he got up onto a desk.

"No! Takashi don't!" She shouted as she ran up to the desk. "Don't leave me Takashi! Please!" Tatsuki watched from where she was seated to see Takashi get down from the desk and wrap the girl into a hug and for her to hug back. She figured that there must have been some history between the three... no two that were left up on the roof with her.

* * *

An arrow went sailing though the halls as Uryu Ishida knocked another one to the bow, Ishida is a bespectacled teenager of average height. He has straight, chin-length raven-colored hair having his bangs hang mostly on the right-side of his face and the rest hanging behind his left ear due to his glasses, his black school uniform was worn to almost a polite manner. He had been out on the field during P.E doing Archery with his class when the P.E teachers had come back from the disturbance they had gone to dissolve the situation, covered in blood and attacking other students. He didn't hesitate when he let loose arrows into the undead. He was smart enough to know what was going on, he didn't want to believe it was true but it was. He had entered the school building for one purpose.

To find his friends.

He had first gone to the sports shed and grabbed as many arrows as he could leaving him with a lot of ammunition for his re-curve bow. He walked calmly through the halls arrow knocked to the ready, ready for anything that might happen. He stopped as he heard several thuds and raised the bow and pulled the string back before going wide around the corner ready to unleash the arrow only to stop as he saw a girl with long, straight and shiny purple hair with a triangular fringe at the front that barely touches the ridge of her nose, and she is also has blue eyes. She wore the traditional girls uniform except her skirt was ankle length. The girl held a boken in her hand and there were several of 'them' dead at her feet. The girl looked up to see Ishida with a bow and she smiled.

"I didn't think I would find anyone else." She told him. "My name is Saeko Busujima."

"Uryu Ishida." He replied.

"I was heading to the nurses office." She told him. "I could use your help." Uryu looked around before noticing three of the undead.

"I think it may be a wise idea to travel together."

"Strength in numbers." Uryu nodded his head before walking down the stair case with Saeko right behind him. The two walked through the halls, Saeko batting 'them' away while Uryu shot the ones at a distance. They had made it through several hallways without too much of an incident before they came to the medical room and could hear a teenage boy cries for help. Saeko nodded to Uryu who took a step back and let Saeko go in first, she kicked the door open and smashed the heads of two undead with her boken before Ishida's arrows smashed into two more as they had headed for the nurse. Saeko walked over to where a boy was seated and had a look of sorrow in her eyes.

"Uryu!" A bubbly girls voice called out making Uryu look around for Orihime. He could tell just by looking at her, she had been through hell. His clothes and hair were covered in blood. Orihime is a teenager of average height. She has brown eyes and long, waist-length burnt orange hair. Her most noticeable physical trait is her slender yet curvaceous figure for a teenager, especially in terms of her large breasts. Her hair is full and wavy, her bangs naturally frame her face without anything to hold it back behind her ears. She wore the school uniform of Fujimi academy.

"Orihime." Uryu smiled. "I'm so glad you're alright, are you hurt?"

"No... but Chizuru." She whispered as tears came to her eyes. "She didn't make it." Uryu walked forward and gave Orihime a comforting hug.

"Have you seen anyone else?"

"None." She told him. "Tatsuki told me to come to the nurses office at lunch because I wasn't feeling well." Uryu nodded in understanding.

"Wait what are you doing?" A cry brought both Uryu and Orihime's attention.

"Your the school nurse I get it. But this young man deserves to die with honor." Saeko said bringing her boken up. "It's the least I can do for him." With that she brought the boken down as blood spluttered up onto the wall. Orihime cringed and turned away from the sight. The nurse is a very tall buxom woman with ridiculous curves, known primarily for her large breasts amongst the boys of the school. She has long blond hair that extends down past her waist, and hazel eyes. Several bangs of her hair come down into her face, with two bangs come down at the sides running all the way down while also framing her face. She is dressed in a white dress shirt with a brown skirt.

"Marikawa-sensei, please grab as many supplies as you can." Ishida told her. "We're getting out of the school." S


	2. Chapter 2

Takashi laughed as the desks blew down the staircase as the pressure of the fire hose blew the desks down along with the zombies that were trying the shamble there way up the staircase, smashing their heads in the process. Rei finally turned the hose off and picked up the baseball bat and mop handle they had used for weapons. Tatsuki looked down the staircase before walking down with Rei and Takashi following.

"You guys sure about this?" Takashi asked as Rei held the bat for him to take.

"If you have a better idea please I'm all ears." Tatsuki snapped at him. "If not shut the hell up."

"Geeze, someone's pushy." Takashi sighed. "Fine let's go." Rei nodded her head as Takashi took the bat from her. "Tatsuki."

"Hmm what?"

"I think you should stay back, at least until you get a weapon." Takashi told her.

"You saying I'm defenceless? I could kick your ass in hand to hand dick!" Tatsuki snapped at Takashi.

"I'm not saying you couldn't!" Takashi snapped back. "Hisashi was a black belt! How the fuck do you think he got bitten! Just stay the fuck back until you get a weapon. I won't have anyone else die on me." He told her as he pushed past her. Tatsuki narrowed her eyes before they softened as she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Please, Takashi may not look like it but he's hurting. Hisashi was his best friend." Rei told her. "Just until we can get you something to hit them with."

"Sure." Tatsuki told her. "I just don't like feeling useless." Rei nodded her head and smiled.

"We're going through the school. Maybe we will come across others."

"Yeah..." Tatsuki thought as Rei and Takashi ran forward Tatsuki on their heels as they bashed zombies left and right out of their way."Please be safe Orihime."

* * *

Blood was everywhere, his hands were stained in it, the axe he carried limply in his grip was barely anything other than red. His usual light brown eyes were dim as he walked the halls of the school. The head of the axe grinding against the ground as he walked forward. Another two of 'them' were shambling towards him heading for the noise he created. When they got within range two thuds were heard as the hilt of the axe buried itself deep into the skull of one and he kicked the other down before turning it's head to the side and smashing his fist into the side of the skull causing it to turn into a mushy mess on the floor. He stood up placed his foot on the neck of the one he had killed first and gripped the handle of the axe before ripping it from the skull with a sickening sound. With a clang the head of the axe hit the ground before the same grinding sound began as he walked forward.

* * *

"Ishida, have you seen Tatsuki?" Orihime asked as she walked next to Ishida who had an arrow knocked for the ready.

"Unfortunately no. You are the first I have found." Ishida told her as Saeko simply swatted another to the side as Shizuka followed quickly after. "I'm sure she is alright, along with the others." Orihime smiled and nodded her head.

"We're a tough group huh?"

"That's right."

"Tell me about your friends." Saeko said from the lead. "I would like to know more." Ishida smiled inwardly. Saeko knew that it would be a good thing to keep Orihime in good spirits. "You are from the Karakura group that transferred here correct?" She asked falling back to where Ishida and Orihime were, Shizuka stepping back behind them.

"That's right." Ishida told her taking the lead.

"My friend Tatsuki is a karate champion! She is said to be the strongest in all of Japan." Orihime told Saeko.

"That's an incredible feat. I must congratulate her when I finally meet her." Saeko smiled.

"Then there is Uryu here who is as you can see a very good shot with his bow, just like Robin Hood! I used to tell stories about his brave prowess, fighting the rich and giving to the poor. Karakura's own personal bandit." Orihime giggled and Saeko giggled in return.

"How many times do I have to tell you Orihime, I am not robin hood." Ishida sighed.

"But I so want to dress you up in a green cape and tights!" Orihime whined.

"I think it would suit you." Saeko smiled trying to hold her chuckle.

"Please Miss Busujima don't encourage her." Ishida told her making her chuckle lightly.

"Then there is Chad, the tallest person I have ever met! He stands taller than Uryu! He's really strong too! He lifted five of us on top of a table once!"

"T-That's amazing." Saeko told her with wide eyes before looking up to Uryu for confirmation, who simply nodded his head making her mouth to drop a little. "How did he become so strong?"

"I don't actually know." Orihime said bringing a finger to her lips. "He never really says much and he's really quiet. Sometimes he's like a mouse. He would be a perfect ninja!" Orihime told her. "But I don't think any of the ninja corps would want a giant no matter how quiet he was."

"I can understand the predicament." Saeko nodded. "I feel sorry for your friend if that was what he wanted to do."

"I agree." Shizuka smiled, making Orihime smile back at her. "A lot of us don't always get into the careers we want. I wanted to be a singer but didn't get the chance."

"I am sure you are a great singer Marikawa-sensei." Saeko smiled. "Perhaps you can sing Karaoke for us one time."

"Really!?" Shizuka smiled and both Orihime and Saeko smiled brightly.

"Is there anyone else?" Saeko asked looking back to Orihime.

"There's a lot more but there is one worth mentioning." Orihime smiled. "He's brave, strong..."

"...annoying, rash, indecisive, rude..." Ishida added.

"... most of the time he has this scary look on his face." Orihime said before looking at Saeko with a scowl. "Something like that."

"Not even close Orihime."

"You weren't even looking!" Orihime pouted. "He is a world kendo champion."

"Really?" Saeko asked. "What's his name I may have heard of him. I compete in kendo tournaments a lot."

"Ichigo Kurosaki." Orihime and Ishida said at the same time before an ear splitting scream echoed throughout the entire school.

* * *

"Where do we run too?" Rei asked as they headed down a flight of stairs causing Takashi and Tatsuki to stop.

"To my house." Takashi said looking up back over his shoulder. "We go there and get the supplies we need and meet up with other people who haven't turned yet. Work together and get some place safe."

"And where is some place safe?" Tatsuki asked.

"Do you ever stop being a bitch!"

"Do you ever think that there might not be a place that is safe! Look around ass hole! This school was barricaded by a nine foot wall and an iron gate which was fucking closed! What's safer then that!" Tatsuki snapped back. "You have to start thinking rationally! This isn't a world where we can go somewhere and everything will be ok! We can't rely on anyone any more!" Tatsuki sighed and looked out the window.

"I know that alright." Takashi said softly. "I'm just trying to make a plan for us."

"I know. Sorry, I'm just worried about my friends." Tatsuki said to them.

"Let's try and find them when we go through the school." Rei told her. "First we need to get you a weapon."

"Agreed." Takashi and Tatsuki said at the same time.

"Let's go then." Takashi said heading down the stairs.

"Wait, shouldn't you call your parents?" Rei asked and missed Takashi's flinch but Tatsuki caught it.

"Nah, my Dad's out of town and my Mum's an elementary school teacher and won't be home till late." Takashi said with a smile. "Plus they get on my nerves."

"They're parents. They're supposed to." Rei chuckled following Takashi down, Tatsuki simply watched and smiled a little. "You coming Tatsuki?"

"Yeah!" Tatsuki called down before an ear splitting scream echoed throughout the entire school.

* * *

"Takagi what are you doing?" Hirano asked as the pink haired girl threw a wet paper towel which collided with the head of one of 'them'.

"What does it look like fat ass, I'm learning!" She growled. "Shut up so I can concentrate."

"Smart." Chad replied as he held the leg of the table of the woodwork room over his shoulder.

"Duh, I am a genius after all." Takagi simply said wetting another paper towel and throwing it so it hit a locker letting a bang surround the area making the zombie she had hit in the back of the head react and go after the locker. "What a dumb ass, all their senses are shot. They can only hear, they don't even care if something hit their body. They are probably blind too or they wouldn't run into the locker like that."

"What about heat?" Hirano asked.

"I'm sure we will get plenty of chances to find out. Let's go."

"So... we're going outside?" Takagi nodded her head.

"I don't know about you but I don't want to hang around a goddamn high school during the apocalypse!"

"I would agree hiding here would be bad." Chad told them.

"I.. I hate walking." Hirano said defeated as he slumped over.

"And that's why your so fat!" Takagi shouted at him. "You gotta lay off the extra cheese and exercise!" Takagi continued to shout before she gasped and Chad looked over his shoulder before swinging the leg of the table making one of 'them' smash into another sending both to the ground. Hirano shot his nail gun getting one dead in the forehead before it fell to the ground. Takagi took a few steps back before she ran into Chad who simply picked her up with the back of her shirt. "Hey let me go you damn brute!" She shouted flailing about in the air before she was put on the ground.

"Stay." Chad simply told her.

"What am I some kind of dog?!" She shouted before Chad swung knocking another one of 'them' across the room colliding with the wall and smashing the glass window.

"Hirano, take a back seat."

"Right!" Hirano said jumping back reaching into the bag and pulling out another cartridge of nails.

"If you keep killing them how will we learn about them!" Takagi growled at Hirano.

"You know... you could help out too." Hirano pointed out.

"You stupid fat idiot! That's what I have you for!"

"But the magazine's almost empty."

"You think that's my problem!" Takagi screeched. "Just hurry up and fix it!"

"But... they're right behind you... see." Hirano said making Takagi turn around only to come face to face with one of 'them'. With an ear shattering scream she stepped back and Hirano went to shoot before he realised that the nails had run out. "Oh no I'm out! Chad!" Hirano turned to see how Chad was fairing but he was too busy holding off six of them to come to their aid.

"Hirano!" She called out before she stepped on the back revealing a drill as she fell down. "Get away! Get away!" She shouted as she backed away from the shambling teacher.

"Takagi!" Hirano shouted as she picked up trophies and began to throw them at the teacher only for it to have no effect even when a larger one broke over its head. Takagi looked around for anything she could use when she spotted the drill on the ground and reached for it and brought it up as the corpse launched itself at her and she was able to get the drill bit into its mouth and activate the drill causing blood to splatter all over her while she screamed. The two groups of Takashi, Rei and Tatsuki saw Ishida and Saeko running up with Orihime and Shizuka behind before they saw the scene that was before them. Hirano standing frozen in shock as the sound of the drill drove into the skull over Takagi's screams while Chad was holding off a large amount of 'them'.

"I'll take the right." Takashi said rushing forward his bat ready and swinging.

"I've got the left." Rei said taking one out to there left while Saeko ran up the middle with her boken smashing two heads along the way as Ishida shot arrow after Arrow towards Chad ending his defence as the last fell.

"Thanks." Ishida just nodded at the silent giants word.

"Orihime! You're alright!" Tatsuki shouted as she embraced her friend. "I was so worried about you."

"I was worried about you too Tatsuki." Orihime replied accepting the embrace.

"Nice to see you made it Tatsuki." Ishida said as Tatsuki pulled back from the hug.

"Yeah, you to Uryu, Chad." Tatsuki smiled. "You two alright?"

"Fine, no bites or anything." Ishida told her. "Right Chad?"

"Right." The four talked a little about what they had gone through while the others got introduced and Rei and Shizuka went to make sure that Takagi was alright.

"Takashi this is Orihime and Ishida. I'm sure you know the nurse Marikawa-sensei." Tatsuki told him and he nodded his head.

"I'm Saeko, senior." Saeko introduced herself.

"Second year Takashi Komuro." Takashi told her.

"Miss Busujima, I'm Rei Miyamoto. I'm in the martial arts club. I've heard of your skills in kendo." Rei said looking up as Shizuka helped Takagi stand.

"Oh... I'm Kohta Hirano second year class 2."

"Nice to meet you." Saeko smiled.

"Why are you all being so warm and fuzzy!"

-GRIND-

"What are you talking about Takagi!" Takashi shouted.

-GRIND-

"Why are you being so polite Miyamoto! Your flunked last year you're the same age as her she's not your elder!"

-GRIND-

"Takagi!"

-GRIND-

"Shut up! I'm smar-"

-GRIND-

"What is that?" Ishida asked, knocking an arrow.

"I don't know but it's coming this way." Tatsuki said taking Orihime's hand and leading her behind the others. Takashi readied his bat while Rei raised her makeshift spear and Saeko her boken while Chad raised his wooden table leg.

"Wait..." Ishida said with wide eyes as she saw the figure. "Oh my god."

"What is it?" Tatsuki asked.

"It's Ichigo." Eyes were wide as they all stared at the figure covered in blood as he trailed up the class hall almost as if he was barely able to walk, the axe in his grip hanging loosely grinding along the ground. They watched as a figure picked itself up from the ground and even before they could warn Ichigo, the blood soaked teen had already spun and dug the axe into the corpses head and pulled it out and with another clang the axe hit the ground. Chad was the first to take a step forward towards the teen.

"Ichigo." The orange haired teen stopped and looked up and the others saw his eyes for the first time they were almost grey and were lifeless.

"Ichigo, what happened to you?" Ishida asked walking up next to Chad.

"I... I... I lost... them." Ichigo stuttered out. "Keigo and Mizurio... they were right there... and I couldn't do anything to save them." Eyes were wide for all the Karakura transfers as they listened to how broken Ichigo was.

"Get him inside, we can block off the exit to the faculty room and figure out what to do." Saeko said as she saw the look in Ichigo's eyes before turning and walking into the room.

"Come on." Chad said gripping Ichigo's shoulder.

"Let's get you cleaned up." Ishida said and Ichigo didn't respond as Ishida took the blood soaked axe from his grip and Chad directed Ichigo into the room and into the bathroom. As Ishida was wiping the blood off him, Chad was checking to make sure he hadn't been bitten anywhere. "It's going to be alright Ichigo." Ishida said as he managed to get all he could of the blood of him.

"Give him a minute." Chad said and Ishida nodded his head and walked out of the bathroom and closing the door behind them as Hirano and Takashi finished stacking the boxes up against the door.

"How is he?" Tatsuki asked walking up to them.

"Shaken up." Ishida told her. "He may be an arrogant prick but I've never seen him like this, not over anything."

"I haven't seen him like this since his Mum died." Tatsuki said sadly before eyes went wide when they heard the mirror smashing and cursing from inside the bathroom and all heads turned to the closed door.

"Leave him be." Saeko told them as she eyed the axe on the table seeing several dents in the blade. "We need to decide what we're going to do. Marikawa-sensei is your car able to take all of us?"

"Uh... now that I think about it..." Shizuka thought of her little yellow buzz box and sighed. "No."

"How about the sports bus we use for team trips?" Rei asked. "We could use that."

"I can see the bus." Hirano said looking out the window.

"The keys are on the wall."

"So we have transportation." Takagi said. "Where are we going?"

"We have to make sure our families are ok." Takashi told them. "Those that live closest we will go there first."

"It sounds fair." Chad said.

"You're not worried about your family?" Saeko asked.

"I live alone." Chad told her and she nodded her head.

"What about you Tatsuki? Orihime? Ishida?"

"My brother was my only family. He died some time ago." Orihime told her.

"I have no notion of meeting with my father." Ishida said shocking the sword user. "I do not wish to discuss the matter further." Saeko nodded her head.

"My family is out of the country." Tatsuki told her.

"And Ichigo?" Four heads turned to the bathroom door.

"You won't stop him." Tatsuki told her. "Not if you had a million guns at your back with soldiers trained to use them. Nothing will stop him from getting to his family."

"Poor Karin and Yuzu." Orihime said sadly.

"I wonder how they are doing?" Ishida questioned allowed.

"They're his sisters." Chad told Saeko who had a questioning look and she simply nodded her head.


	3. Chapter 3

Ichigo sat across from the sink in the bathroom his right knee brought up and his left leg stretched out. If you had seen him on any other day or any other place you would think he was simply relaxed. But not now, the sink was broken and water was running throughout the bathroom. Pieces of the mirror were scattered over the floor from where he had punched the centre of it. He was lucky that his fist hadn't gotten any cuts from the broken pieces. Losing Keigo and Mizurio had broken him. He didn't even see Chad back in the hallway till he spoke to him. Just the way everyone was looking at him made him pissed off. He clenched his fist and took a deep breath before letting it out and releasing the fist. He was about to stand up before there was a vibration from his pocket. He reached in and pulled his phone out before flicking it open.

"Hello?" Ichigo greeted.

*Ichigo! Oh thank god you picked up! I've been calling for over an hour!* Karin's voice sounded out making Ichigo's eyes shoot wide open in shock and surprise.

"Karin? Where are you!"

*I'm at home, Yuzu is here with me.*

"Where's Dad?" Ichigo asked pulling himself up looking into the broken pieces of the mirror to see his reflection.

*He hasn't been home yet... Ichigo what is going on.*

"Karin I need you to listen to me very carefully."

*Ichigo wha-!*

"Karin!" Ichigo shouted. "This is important alright!" There was a pause. "I'm sorry I yelled."

*What do you need Big Brother?* Karin asked.

"Go to Dad's room, under the bed there is a black velvet case, probably the size of you or Yuzu. I want you to take that case to my room. Get Yuzu to grab anything non perishable food wise and go to my room and barricade my bedroom door."

*Black Velvet case, food, barricade your room got it.*

"You do not let anyone in, you lock the front door before you barricade my room, put the couch up against the front door if you have to just make sure if anyone tries to get through that door, they are going to have a hard time doing it. You get me?"

*Barricade the house and then your room.*

"Do you and Yuzu understand what's going on out there Karin?" Ichigo asked pressing his hand up against the wall and closing his eyes waiting for her response.

*It's like that movie we once saw right?*

"Right. Exactly the same." Ichigo told her. "You do not let anyone into that room Karin. Do you understand me? No one but me or Dad. If someone else comes to that door, no matter what they say no matter how much they beg and plead you do not open that door do you understand."

*I got it Ichigo." Ichigo sighed and the phone line was silent. *Are you still there Ichigo?*

"I need you to do me one more thing Karin."

*Anything Ichigo.*

"Protect Yuzu, I'm coming to get you both. Just hold out alright I'm coming, I don't know how long I'll be but keep each other safe alright?."

*We'll be in your room. I'll get medical supplies from the clinic too.*

"That a girl Karin. You need anything, even if it's just to talk. Ring me."

*Thanks Ichigo.* Ichigo smiled somewhat. *I love you big brother.*

"Yeah I love you to Karin, give Yuzu a kiss on the forehead for me alright?" Karin chuckled. "I'll see you soon Karin."

With that Ichigo hung up the phone. Ichigo took one last look into the broken mirror before turning to the door unlocking it and pushing the door open. All heads had turned to him and he walked over to the desk with his axe on it while putting his phone in his pocket and picked up the axe he had got from the fire box.

"Ichigo where are you going?" Tatsuki asked as she saw Ichigo heading for the door.

"The hell do you think Tatsuki?" Ichigo asked as he started to move boxes out of the way of the door.

"You're going alone?" Saeko asked, Ichigo looked over his shoulder to see everyone looking at him.

"Got a problem with that?" Ichigo asked.

"No, I just thought you might want to look after your friends before you go." Saeko said. "I'm not here to tell you what to do."

"Then don't!" He snapped at her as he kicked the last box out of the way. "I'm going to save my sisters." With that Ichigo opened the door and walked out.

"I told you, you wouldn't be able to stop him." Tatsuki said as she chased after him. "Ichigo wait up!"

"Tatsuki! Go back to the others! You're not coming!"

"You're not going alone." She said as she caught up to him and gripped his shoulder making him stop. "We can go as a group."

"You know as much as I do that none of you have anything to go back to Karakura for." Ichigo told her.

"Ichigo... what happened with Mizurio and Keigo." Tatsuki's eyes shot wide open as she was pushed up against a wall and the axe handle was at her throat. "Ichigo!" Ichigo's eyes opened wide as he realised what he had done and he took a step back and dropped the axe to the ground with a clatter as Tatsuki rubbed her throat.

"I... I don't want to talk about it." Ichigo told her as he ran his hands down his face. "I have to save them Tatsuki, they're my little sisters!"

"I know." Tatsuki said as she wrapped her oldest friend in a hug. "I know, just don't go yet. We need you, here and now." Tatsuki told him. "Karin's strong she can protect Yuzu. What did you tell them to do on the phone?"

"Barricade themselves in my room and wait for me." Tatsuki laughed a little as she pulled back from the hug and looked up into his face.

"How many times did we barricade that room when we were little."

"Both our Dad's couldn't get through it." Ichigo told her. "I also told her to grab Zangetsu from underneath Dad's bed." Tatsuki's eyes were wide. "I'm going to need it Tatsuki, you have seen what this place is now."

"Yeah your right." Tatsuki told him. "Come on, we're discussing what we should do next."

"Tatsuki." Ichigo said as she began to walk away. "I'm not going to be able to be here forever."

"I know Ichigo, but you're here now. That's what counts." Ichigo nodded his head and leant down and picked up the axe that he dropped and followed Tatsuki back to the faculty room. Tatsuki opened the door and Ichigo followed her in. The room had an awkward silence over it as Ichigo sat down on a desk and looked everyone over for the first time. "What's the plan?" Tatsuki asked breaking the silence.

"We have to get to the mini bus." Saeko told her and she nodded. "We should get into teams of two or three. That way we can help one another out in a fight. Just remember we don't need to fight, we can pass by the single ones easily enough." There were a round of nods as everyone started to gather together and Saeko walked over to Ichigo. "I'll go with you."

"Got a grudge against me already?" Ichigo asked standing up.

"No." She told him. "Orange is today's lucky colour for me." She told him with a small smile.

"Then you read the wrong horoscope." Ichigo told her. "You guys make it to the front entrance."

"What are you going to do?" Takashi asked.

"We're going to bring the bus around. Keys." Ichigo said holding up his hand and Shizuka tossed him the keys.

"Ichigo, we should go as a group." Tatsuki said, walking forward.

"Look, go through the school and find anything we could use. Break open a damn drink dispenser if you have too. It will be too dangerous to move with a large group like this."

"He's right." Saeko said. "We'll get the bus and meet you by the front entrance." The others nodded.

"Chad." Ichigo said, making the giant look up. "Look after them alright?"

"Alright."

"Let's go boken girl." Ichigo said, walking out the door.

"Name's Saeko."

"He's already forgotten it." Tatsuki told her. "He's not good with names."

"Seriously?"

"Suzahara let's go!" Ichigo called out.

"I see..." Saeko said before looking herself up and down. "Do I really look like a Suzahara."

"Who knows what goes through that morons head at least he got the S right, get going."

"Right." Saeko said running out of the room. The others looked at one another.

"We should get going, find anything we can use to carry stuff with."

"Hirano." Chad said. "We should head back to the woodwork room, get more supplies for that gun of yours."

"That's a great idea." Hirano said. "Guy's we will be back."

"Meet us at the front entrance." Rei told them and Hirano nodded his head before the two ran out of the room.

"So what's that guys deal." Takashi asked, making Ishida look over at him from where he was emptying a cart. "Not that I have anything against him, it's just he was pretty dead set on leaving before Tatsuki ran out after him."

"Mizurio and Keigo were two of Ichigo's best friends." Tatsuki told him. "Just like Hisashi was your best friend."

"I see."

"No you don't." Ishida told him. "No offence but your nothing like Ichigo."

"I don't understand." Takashi said.

"Ichigo was just willing to run out into that hell of a mess all on his own to save his two sisters that are four hours away." Tatsuki told him. "You can't even admit your worried for your parents."

"We have nothing against you Takashi." Ishida said. "Ichigo is just the guy that gets results. He doesn't hesitate when it comes to his friends or his family, especially his family."

"They're right Takashi. Besides what's this all about? You don't like him or something?" Rei asked.

"I never said that." Takashi said. "I was just wondering what made him tick, from what I can guess we're going to be spending a bit more time with one another."

"Don't expect too much." Tatsuki told them, making everyone look over to her.

"What's that mean Tatsuki?" Orihime asked.

"His sisters are in Karakura, he's going to leave eventually."

"The longer he waits... the more risk his sisters have." Shizuka said and Tatsuki nodded.

"You should have let him go." Takagi told her. "How can we rely on him if we know he's just going to pack up and hit the road."

"What is this survivor, who ever doesn't make the cut gets voted out? Grow up." Tatsuki snapped at her. "You're afraid of him I get it."

"I am not!"

"Hell I'm afraid of him!" Tatsuki shouted at her. "He was covered head to toe in blood, none of it his own, of course your fucking afraid! His axe had dents in it from where it hit bone, hard. He's my childhood friend, that image of how he looked coming up the hall will never change that. I'll remember the days I used to kick his ass in the dojo every afternoon, I'll remember how I used to stick up for him when bullies picked on him for having orange hair. I'll remember the day he first kicked me on my ass for being too cocky." Tatsuki sighed. "Look, this day has been hell for all of us. It wasn't that long ago that you were covered head to toe in blood either."

"Takagi, don't be so insensitive." Takashi told her making her growl and fold her arms. "So from his friends, what's he like?"

"Rude, arrogant, completely insensitive, a jerk... the list goes on." Ishida told him with a shrug making Tatsuki laugh a little.

"You don't like him?"

"Didn't say that." Ishida said. "But if I had a choice out of anyone in this school to be stuck in this situation with, Ichigo would be at the top."

"Why's that?"

"Ichigo's a hell of a guy." Tatsuki smiled. "Saeko is the safest person in this school at the moment."

* * *

Both Ichigo and Saeko were running down the hallways, they had already made it down to the second floor now they just had to get to the main staircase that would lead them to the entrance so that they could go outside and get into the minibus. They stopped at the top of the staircase and looked down at the exit.

"It's full of them." Saeko muttered. "Is there another way around?"

"Not that I know of." Ichigo told her to take a seat on the stairs and take a breath. Both had been running for the last twenty minutes trying to keep out of sight but they had to fight a little in places so they could keep going. Ichigo rubbed his forehead.

"Hirano told me that Takagi ran some simple tests on them, we should have asked her maybe there could have been something we could have used."

"Maybe we should do one of our own." Ichigo said standing up and walking back up the stairs. "Come on, your not going to want to be there." Saeko nodded her head and followed Ichigo to see him with a shoe in his hand as he walked to the side of the staircase. Saeko quickly walked behind him and looked over his shoulder before he cocked his arm back and threw the shoe and it hit the locker letting a loud bang surround down the hall before it went quiet and was interrupted by groans from below.

Ichigo pushed Saeko back up against the wall as he laid flat against it his arm over Saeko's stomach as he turned his head to see the corpse's starting up the stairs. He took a step back Saeko following as she saw a shadow over Ichigo's shoulder and lifted her boken before Ichigo lowered it. The corpses simply walked up the stairs and headed towards the direction of the sound. Ichigo felt Saeko let out a breath as her stomach extended showing she had taken in air. He turned his head as the last corpse walked past them and raised a finger to his lips and she nodded her head before he ducked down the stairs she was right on his trail. The two quickly ducked out the door, onto the walkway before looking down to the quad.

"It looks like they can't see us, all their senses other the sound must be dead." Saeko told him and Ichigo nodded his head.

"That means if we're quiet we might be able to get through to the bus with little to no effort." Saeko nodded in agreement.

"Do you know how to drive a bus?" Saeko asked and Ichigo shrugged.

"Shouldn't be too difficult to learn how to, plus it's not like I'm going to run over pedestrians." Ichigo simply said making Saeko laugh a little. "Come on let's go." Saeko nodded her head and the two made their way down to the quad and across towards the bus avoiding the larger crowds and sticking to a slow walk as they passed the dead that shambled past them. They came to the bus and Ichigo opened the door and Saeko walked up the steps boken at the ready encase there was anyone inside.

"It's clear." Ichigo came up and climbed into the driver's seat and put the keys in the ignition as Saeko closed the doors before climbing into the passenger seat. Ichigo turned the key and the bus roared to life as both he and Saeko looked out the front windscreen to see all the dead looking in the direction of the bus. "There going to follow us to the main entrance."

"Yeah." Ichigo agreed. "We're not going to have a lot of time to get everyone on the bus along with everything they get. If there not at the main entrance when we get there it's going to be over run." Saeko nodded her head. Ichigo pushed the clutch in and grabbed the column shift gear stick and put it into drive. "Guess we'll just have to drive around for a while until they get to the main entrance."

"Might give you some time to learn how to drive." She smirked as Ichigo pressed the accelerator and released the clutch and spun the wheel knocking several of 'them' out of the way as he drove forward.

"I told you." Ichigo smirked. "Easy enough." Saeko laughed as Ichigo drove forward.

* * *

"Where are they?" Ishida asked as he hid behind the door watching the large quad which was filled with shambling corpses. They had been here for five minutes already and the bus or Ichigo and Saeko were nowhere in sight.

"They should have been here by now." Chad said with a gym bag of supplies over his shoulder from the woodwork room.

"What if something happened?" Rei asked.

"Better not to think like that." Tatsuki told her making the teen nod her head. "Wait! There's Saeko!" She said as she saw the violet haired girl running across the quad smashing a zombie's head if it got too close. She was breathing hard when she arrived at the main entrance.

"Ichigo's got the bus." She breathed out when she arrived much to the relief of the others. "You guys have to be ready, they react to sound and there is a large horde following him around so you have to be quick getting on the bus, take everything in your arms when you get on board." She explained and heads nodded as they started to pick up supplies. Saeko held the door open as she heard the bus engine and as the bus stopped in front of them she held the door open as everyone ran inside, Saeko was the last to get on before the bus drove out over the quad once more.

"Didn't know you drove Ichigo." Tatsuki smirked.

"But you do look good behind the wheel of a bus, perhaps all those good grades you got was for show over what you really wanted to do." Ishida laughed.

"I swear to god Ishida I will pull this bus over and kick your ass out!" Ichigo roared shocking everyone but Ishida who actually saw the smirk on Ichigo's face.

"Wait! There's a group of people out there!" Shizuka called out pointing over to where a teacher and a group of students were trying to hail them down. Ichigo applied the brakes bringing the bus to a stop and with a thud several of the corpses that had been coming after them slammed into the back of the bus. Ichigo grabbed the axe, opened the door and jumped down the stairs and swung the axe colliding with a zombies head as Saeko jumped down after him driving the boken into another's head, Hirano hanging out a window shooting 'them' while covering Ichigo and Saeko.

"That's Mr Shido." Takagi told them.

"Shido!?" Rei asked as she narrowed her eyes. "Just leave him!" She called down to Ichigo and Saeko who looked back up at her.

"Rei what the hell are you saying!" Takashi shouted at her.

"We don't have to save him! Let's just go!" She shouted back. Ichigo narrowed his eyes as he looked over to see a kid trip over as a few students ran passed him and onto the bus. Ichigo watched as Shido looked down not offering a hand or anything before planting his foot into the students face and walked towards the bus. He walked past Ichigo with a smirk and Ichigo clenched his hands around the handle of the axe.

"Ichigo! Hurry up!" Saeko said batting another zombie away.

"Marikawa-sensei get in the driver's seat." Ichigo said as he turned and looked at the bus making the blonde woman look at him in surprise.

"Me? I don't know how to drive this." She tried to defend before Ichigo growled and she squeaked before nodding her head and getting up and into the driver's seat while Ichigo and Saeko made their way back to the bus.

"What's going on Ichigo?" Saeko asked as they stood by the door of the bus.

"Just get on." Ichigo told her and she nodded before pulling herself up into the bus. Ichigo turned and looked around to see another one of 'them' close and drove his axe into his head before turning and walking onto the bus and closing the door. "Marikawa-sensei. Go." Shizuka nodded her head and drove the bus forward hitting several of 'them' along the way before the bus rocketed out of the school gate and down the road.

The bus was quiet as they drove, Saeko was cleaning her boken with a rag, Ichigo was sitting up front in the passenger seat next to Shizuka. Chad was quietly looking out the window while Orihime and Tatsuki were quietly whispering to one another. Takashi and Hirano were speaking about how they had made it out of the school while the students Shido had rescued were talking amongst themselves Shido himself was walking down the aisles before standing next to Saeko and leaning forward.

"I believe that you are in the position of power here?" He asked and Saeko looked up to him.

"What are you talking about? There is no leader. We just work together to survive." Saeko told him.

"That just won't do!" Shido exclaimed. "There must be an order of rank or discipline will not be handed out!" Ichigo stood up from his seat and grabbed his axe making Shido take a step back before he was forced to the ground as Ichigo planted his foot in his chest making everyone look on in shock as Ichigo glared down at him the blade of the axe swinging next to the teachers head.

"You want to talk about discipline?" Ichigo asked his gaze hard as steel. "How about I discipline you, you were the one who left that student back there to die." He turned the axe to the side and Shido's eyes were wide as he saw it covered in blood. "Let's try a little experiment. You, girl with the glasses!"

"W-What!?" She asked surprised as Ichigo turned to face her.

"What would happen if the blood of one of those things got into one of our blood streams."

"NO!" Shido shouted. "Please anything but that!"

"Shut up!" Ichigo shouted bringing his foot down on Shido's ribcage pushing him back to the floor of the bus.

"I would imagine that the infection would spread throughout one's body at an agonisingly slow pace causing the host incredible amounts of pain." Saya took in a breath. "Before finally succumbing to death and being reanimated as one of 'them'. Or so I would think." She explained and Ichigo looked down at Shido, whose eyes were wide with fear.

"Ichigo what are you doing?" Tatsuki asked standing up making Ichigo look back at her as the bus continued to drive down the road.

"Tatsuki, this guy." Ichigo said looking back down at the teacher. "Isn't worth saving."

"What are you talking about Ichigo!" Ishida shouted.

"I agree, the guy is a total monster." Rei spoke up.

"Rei!" Takashi shouted.

"I have to agree with the two of them, he sacrificed a student just so he could survive." Saeko spoke up. "We can't trust him."

"He's already trying to take control." Takagi spoke up. "Even if we wanted a leader he would be no good." Ichigo removed his foot off Shido's chest making the teacher sit up before Ichigo had grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt and pulled him up to his feet before pushing him forward towards the door.

"I'm not about to kill a living person." Ichigo told him. "But I sure as hell won't let you stay here with us. Marikawa-sensei stop the bus."

"O-Ok." The bus came to a halt outside of a tunnel and the doors opened and Ichigo planted his foot in Shido's back and Shido found himself on the sidewalk quicker than he had expected.

"You can't do this!" One of the students that came with Shido stood up and shouted, making Ichigo turn towards them. "He saved our lives!"

"Yeah you can't kick him out like that he's a hero!" Another shouted before the whole back of the bus started to protest and yell at Ichigo.

"Your welcome to join him." Ichigo told them, making them all shut up. "He's a threat to us. He won't hesitate to turn on any of us. If you want to go out there and keep him company be my guest."

"Well I'm not staying here." One of the guys stood up. "I owe Mr Shido my life, I'm not sticking around here with a bunch of idiots like you!"

"Anyone else?" Tatsuki asked looking over the back of the bus and all of the people who came with Shido got up and exited the bus. "You sure about this Ichigo?" She asked turning back to the orange haired teenager.

"He was too dangerous." Ichigo told her. "Everyone else made their own decision."

"Marikawa-sensei." Takashi said. "We should keep moving." The blonde haired woman nodded her head and the bus drove forward leaving the teacher and students behind on the curb.


	4. Chapter 4

They were stuck in traffic, it was the damn apocalypse and there was still traffic. Ichigo was sitting in the passenger seat up next to Shizuka who was sighing constantly out of boredom since they only moved a meter or so every half an hour and they had been stuck here for two hours already. The lights on the side of the road had already come to life and the sky was starting to darken as the night started to set in. Shizuka leaned back in her seat and stretched her arms up over her head and yawned.

"This is boring." She whined. "It's going to be night soon and I don't even have my pyjamas." She mumbled.

_"It's the end of the world and she's worried about pyjamas?"_ Ichigo thought to himself. "Don't you have friends or family to worry about?" Ichigo asked looking out the front windscreen making her look at him.

"Well... no not really." She said raising a finger up to her chin in thought. "My parents passed away a long time ago and I'm an only child. My other relatives live really far away and my friend... well she can take care of herself." She smiled at him. "You must be worried." She whispered and Ichigo turned his head towards her. "About your sisters."

"Yeah." Ichigo replied in a soft tone surprising the woman as he glanced out the window. "I was always told the older brother was born first to protect the younger brothers and sisters that came along after." Ichigo told her, making her smile.

"Who ever told you that was wise." She smiled at him. "I wish I had, had an older brother like you when I was little. I used to get picked on a lot when I was younger because I'm such a ditz." She told him, making him chuckle lightly. "I'm sure they will be alright, I mean they have you coming for them after all." She smiled and he looked back at her.

"Thanks." She nodded her head and looked back out the front window and sighed again. "We're not getting anywhere like this."

"I agree." Shizuka said and Ichigo glanced over the bus to see everyone doing their own thing or trying to get some shut eye.

"We need a place to just lay low for a while, wait for things to settle down so we can move freely." Ichigo said looking back out the front window.

"Hmm... oh I know." She said leaning over the console in the middle between the two making Ichigo look at her in confusion.

"Know what exactly?" Ichigo asked leaning back away from the large breasted woman.

"Currently I'm looking after a friend of mine's house." She told him. "We could go there, it's big enough for everyone and she has this awesome bath and everything plus one of those cars that looks like a tank."

"Like a tank?" Ichigo asked with a cocked eyebrow and Shizuka nodded her head enthusiastically.

"Uh Huh, it guzzles down fuel and it's really big." She told him shooting her arms out to the sides making her breasts jiggle making Ichigo blush before he turned away.

"Your friend's place, is it easy to get to?" He asked still looking away as Shizuka turned back to the steering wheel and rested her arms on the wheel as she started to think.

"Well... if we continued going this way and there wasn't any traffic, we would have gotten there in about fifteen twenty minutes." She explained. "But if we turn around and take the long way maybe forty five minutes, that's if there's no other traffic going that way." Ichigo thought for a moment before Shizuka spoke up again. "What do you want to do?"

"Turn around, take the long route, if there's more traffic we will find somewhere else to sleep for the night. If we have to we will sleep on the bus." Shizuka nodded her head and put the bus into reverse and closed the gap between the car behind who beeped on the horn bringing everyone on the bus aware that the bus was moving. Shizuka put the bus into drive and turned the wheel and got into the opposite lane and started to head the other way.

"What's going on?" Rei asked. "Why are we turning around?"

"We need a place to stay for the night." Ichigo said, turning around. "Marikawa-sensei said we can use her friend's house. It will be safe."

"What about our families?" Takagi asked standing up so Ichigo could see her over the seat she was behind.

"By the way we were going driving wise, we wouldn't have gotten where we wanted to go, we would have gone faster on foot." Shizuka said driving down the road. "It's starting to get dark, I know all of you want to find your families but first things first, we need to look out for ourselves."

"Wow, Dr boobs actually said something smart." Takagi said sitting back down next to Hirano.

"So where exactly are we going?" Tatsuki asked, walking up to the driver and passenger seat.

"To my friends house." Shizuka smiled, turning to look at her. "It has a big fence surrounding it."

"Eyes on the road." Ichigo mumbled making the woman chuckle nervously and turn back to look at where she was going.

"Boyfriend?" Tatsuki smirked.

"Oh no!" Shizuka cried out. "Nothing like that, it's just my girlfriend's flat." She explained. "She works a lot and is away from home most of the time so she asks me to help her with the cleaning. I was actually planning on moving in with her to save us trouble." She told her and Tatsuki nodded her head. Tatsuki rested a hand on Ichigo's shoulder and he looked back at her.

"You alright?" She asked and Ichigo gave her a soft smile.

"Yeah." He thrust his thumb at Shizuka. "She's been keeping me occupied." Shizuka giggled a little but kept quiet as she continued to drive. "What did we manage to get from the school?"

"From what I can tell Chad and that Hirano kid got stuff from the woodwork class, more nails for Hirano's self made nail gun, tape, and other random things like drills and what not." Ichigo nodded his head. "We managed to get back to the nurses office and grabbed what we thought was important."

"That was a good idea." Shizuka smiled. "I grabbed what I could and put it into a medical bag but I didn't know if it was enough." Tatsuki nodded her head.

"We managed to grab chips, drinks and other assorted packaged food from the cafeteria and Chad was nice enough to break into a coffee machine for us." Tatsuki chuckled. "So we have enough for a day or two, if we ration it properly maybe a bit longer." The two talked for a bit before Tatsuki went to go sit next to Orihime before Saeko grabbed her wrist as she walked past and she looked down at her.

"Is he alright?" Saeko asked and Tatsuki looked back over her shoulder at Ichigo who was once again telling Shizuka to keep her eyes on the road.

"He's putting up a facade." Tatsuki told her. "But if we can keep his mind off what happened with Keigo and Mizuiro... he should remain calm." Saeko nodded her head and let Tatsuki's wrist go. "Why are you so concerned about Ichigo?"

"Is there a reason I shouldn't be?" Saeko asked with a slight smile that caught Tatsuki off guard by it.

"What about your own family aren't you worried about them?" Tatsuki asked.

"Of course I am, but you see my father is my only family and he's in the dojo overseas. So the only people I really need to be worrying about are myself and Ichigo, don't really care about anyone else."

"Why him?" Takagi asked, looking between the two seats leaning forward. "What's so special about him that he's the only one you're looking out for?"

"Simple really." Saeko smiled looking between the two seats at the pink haired girl. "He's like me..." She said as she looked up at Ichigo before turning back. "Helps that he's a total hottie and knows how to handle himself in a fight." She simply smiled as she closed her eyes as Takagi's and Tatsuki's jaws dropped at how Saeko had just referred to the orange haired teenager sitting up front. "Unless one of you two already had your sights set on him?"

"What!" Tatsuki shouted with wide eyes. "Like hell I would!" The whole bus went quiet as everyone stared at Tatsuki who went red faced.

"Perhaps you should use your indoor voice." Saeko smiled before Tatsuki huffed turned on her heel and walked back to where Orihime was sitting while Saeko just giggled to herself.

"What was that all about?" Ishida asked from across the bus and Tatsuki turned and glared at him.

"Nothing shut up!" She growled at the bow user before she looked up to Chad. "Don't say a word." Chad just shrugged and continued to look out the window while Tatsuki closed her eyes and folded her arms while Orihime hummed lightly as the bus continued to drive on.

"What was between you and Mr Shido?" Takashi asked and Rei didn't respond. "Rei?"

"I don't want to talk about it." Rei simply told him. "Just drop it, you wouldn't understand." Rei snapped at him.

"Tch whatever." Rei rolled her eyes and looked out the window as Takashi rose from his seat and headed towards the back of the bus and sat down next to Chad. Chad greeted him with a nod before going back to look out the window and Takashi closed his eyes.

"Ah... we need fuel." Shizuka said, looking at the fuel gauge. Ichigo looked out the windscreen and raised his hand.

"Up there it's a fuel station." Shizuka nodded her head and turned the wheel to turn into the station and parked next to the fuel pumps. The door slid open and Ichigo rose from his seat.

"Go stretch your legs but be careful." Shizuka told them and heads nodded all around as everyone got up and stepped off the bus with groans as their leg muscles stretched after hours of disuse. Shizuka stepped out of the bus after Chad and used the keys to unlock the fuel cap before looking at the fuel pump and scratching her head. "I uh... don't know how to use this." She pouted as Takashi walked over to her.

"We have to put money in." Takashi said as he reached into his pocket and sighing. "I don't have my wallet on me."

"You're the worst." He heard Rei mumble.

"Well I'm sorry ok!" Takashi rounded on her making the others look towards them. "I guess Hisashi would have the cash!"

"Where did that come from!" Rei shouted back at him. "When did I ever compare you to Hisashi!"

"You said I'm the worst didn't you!? That means someone is the best right? You must have meant Hisashi!"

"I didn't then, but I do now." She growled at him, Takashi held his hand out for her making her flinch. "What do you want?"

"Money, I need to borrow some."

"I... kinda, left my purse back at school."

"Oh Jesus and you're riding my ass!" Takashi shouted.

"You two cut it out!" Shizuka yelled at them. "Does anyone have any money?" She asked as she looked around Rei and Takashi looking away from one another. Everyone reached into their pockets and pulled out what looked to be only pocket change.

"Well would you look at that." Tatsuki sighed. "Eleven people and a handful of pocket change." Ichigo walked back onto the bus and grabbed his axe and started to head over to the store.

"What are you doing?" Saeko asked.

"We need cash right?" Ichigo asked, looking over his shoulder. "I'm sure the store hasn't been looted yet."

"First a bus driver and then a thief." Ishida smirked. "Really Ichigo, your job choices never cease to amaze me."

"Yeah, yeah shut up." Ichigo mumbled as he walked into the store. The others leant up against the bus Rei standing near the back avoiding talking to anyone and especially Takashi. She looked along the line of people and saw Takashi talking with Ishida and she growled to herself, how could he be so care free after a fight like that? She didn't get guys at all. Before she knew what happened an arm had wrapped around her stomach and she screamed as a knife was placed at her neck and was pushed forward as the thug had everyone's attention.

"Hey quit squirming!" The thug shouted as Rei tried to wrestle out of his grip. "Everyone stay where you are!"

"Rei!" Takashi shouted.

"Let her go!" Ishida shouted as Saeko narrowed her eyes at the thug. Everyone apart from Ichigo had left their weapons on the bus. Big mistake, one she knew she wouldn't make again. Everyone watched as the thug started to laugh.

"Oh man you guys have some nice descent fucking bitches here!"

"Let her go!" Takashi shouted.

"Haha! Why would I do that! Do you think I would go after one of those skank ass Zombie bitches! Think again mother fucker!"

"Jesus are you fucking crazy, is that it?" Tatsuki questioned as Ishida started to move towards the door of the bus as his bow was right there.

"Stay were you fucking are or ill slice this little slut ear to ear!" Ishida stopped moving and raised his hands up and backed away from the door as he saw the door to the shop open and saw Ichigo walk out.

"We're just trying to find our families." Ishida told him, taking a step forward next to Takashi. "Just let her go and we can go our own way."

"They're all dead man! Just like my family! I had to... had to smash all their heads in, my father, my mother, my grandma and brother and even my little sister too! No one is going to survive this! Nobody would be sane after that you think I wouldn't be fucked up after thahahahha!" He broke off into insane laughter and Rei pushed against him and tried to run away.

"Takashi!" She shouted but the thug was quicker then expected and had grabbed her by the breast tightly making her moan in pain.

"Rei!" Takashi shouted as he stepped forward.

"I sure like the way you scream." The Thug said as he continued to grope her. "The way you feel... quite a handful there." Takashi narrowed his eyes. "Your fucking her aren't you." He laughed. "I bet you're sticking it to this hot little bitch day and night. Haha. Wait a minute, you haven't! You haven't got on this yet! Your a fucking pussy man!" Takashi took a step forward before the thug felt a tap on his shoulder. "Huh?" Ichigo planted his fist right in the thugs face, the knife went flying in the air as the thug went across the pavement and Rei ran to Takashi.

Ichigo caught the knife in the hand opposite to the one the axe was holding before throwing it and hitting the thug in the leg making him scream out in pain as he gripped his leg. Ichigo walked over to him and planted his foot above where the knife was.

"Marikawa-sensei, here's the money. Fill the bus up." Ichigo said holding a wad of bills in his hand outstretched to her and she went over and took it and walked over to the fuel pump. Orihime and Saya helped Rei back onto the bus while Ichigo glared down at the thug.

"Hey come on man, it's not like it seemed." Ichigo bent down and pulled the knife out making the thug scream in pain as Ichigo planted his foot on the wound. Saeko walked over to Ichigo.

"What are you going to do with him?" Saeko asked glaring down at the man.

"His screaming would have brought attention, unwanted attention." Ichigo told her before he ran the knife into the man's leg again making him scream out in pain louder this time. Shizuka finished fuelling the bus up and and closed the fuel cap and squeaked as she saw the zombies shambling towards the station.

"We should go." She called out and Ichigo looked up before removing the knife. Saeko nodded but not before glaring at the man and both turned to leave to get on the bus before the thug gripped onto Ichigo's leg.

"You can't leave me here! What kind of fuckers are you!" He shouted. Ichigo let the knife drop to the ground with a clatter that echoed. "What?"

"You can't say I left you here defenceless." Ichigo said before pulling his leg from the man's grip and headed back to the bus leaving the thug screaming profanities at him. The bus door closed behind him and Shizuka started the bus and Ichigo climbed up into the passenger seat and Ichigo watched the rear-view mirror as they drove away. He watched as the corpses piled into the fuel station before Shizuka turned the mirror upwards so Ichigo couldn't see.

"You did the right thing back there." She said softly. "Don't feel guilty." Ichigo leaned forward.

"It's not been a full day since the world went to shit... and I've already killed a person." The bus drove on and luckily there wasn't any traffic so when Shizuka put the bus in park everyone was surprised to see that they were out in front of an expensive looking flat.

"This is it." Shizuka said turning the ignition of the bus off.

"It's fence looks durable." Hirano said before he gasped. "There's a Humvee!"

"Told you it looked like a tank." Shizuka smiled as the bus door opened. Takashi and Hirano were the first out of the bus checking the street. Ishida and Chad were the next out followed by Saeko and Rei.

"We should be able to get a good night's rest." Rei said. There were groans from the inside and everyone readied their weapons.

"I need to get a weapon." Tatsuki sighed. "I'm starting to feel useless."

"It's ok Tatsuki, I'm sure you will find a weapon soon." Orihime said resting a hand on her friend's shoulder as the people outside dealt with 'them'. Orihime watched as they made their way inside and realised Ichigo wasn't out there with them and looked up to the front of the bus to see Ichigo sitting there. "Is Ichigo alright Tatsuki?"

"Just give him some space Orihime." Tatsuki smiled as Takashi called down to say it was all clear. "Come on let's grab our stuff and head in." Orihime nodded her head and as the two walked down the bus corridor Shizuka held the key to the flat out to them.

"I'll get Ichigo inside." Tatsuki nodded her head and Orihime smiled but it wasn't her usual cheerful smile it was filled with worry for her friend. Shizuka sat with Ichigo for a while before Ichigo looked up. "We're here."

"Oh, sorry I was just thinking." Ichigo said.

"About?"

"Stuff like that's going to happen over and over again now, people don't have to follow the rules any more." Shizuka sat back in the chair.

"I guess you're right." She agreed. "Come on let's go inside. I could use a bath." Ichigo looked over his shoulder to see the bus empty. "Everyone is already inside." Ichigo nodded and stood up and made his way out of the bus with Shizuka following after. The two walked up the steps and opened the door and walked into the house. The others were all looking around.

"This apartment is huge!" Rei said amazed as she looked around.

"Wait till you see the bath! It's amazing!" Shizuka squealed. Ichigo put the axe down and headed for the stairs, all he wanted to do was find a bed and sleep. "Oh no you don't!" Shizuka told him gripping him by the arm. "We're all having baths. Us girls will bathe together while you boys go set up then you guys can bathe together."

"We'll have separate showers." All the guys spoke up making Shizuka pout.

"I'm not bathing with you freaks!" Tatsuki shouted as she rounded on the girls.

"That's mean Tatsuki." Orihime pouted.

"It is not! Making a person like me bath with girls like you just isn't fair. You're all freakishly huge."

"That's where I drop out." Ichigo said turning and walking towards the stairs a blush on his cheeks as Chad followed. Ishida walked into the kitchen and put the kettle on to make some tea and Takashi tried to think about what Tatsuki was going on about while Hirano had blood dripping from his nose at the thought of the girls all bathing together.


	5. Chapter 5

Ichigo sighed as he laid back on the bed as Hirano and Takashi tried to break into the weapons locker that was in the room. He wandered just who the woman that lived here was. Chad was on the balcony watching the street and Ishida was still down stairs in the kitchen. And the girls... well from the giggling and the shouts from Tatsuki and Takagi they were in the bathroom.

"It sounds like their having fun." Takashi said as Hirano managed to get the crowbar into the side of the weapons locker.

"Want to go have a look? You know we're supposed to, right?" Hirano asked with a slight blush.

"I don't want to die just yet." Takashi said as he gripped the crow bar. "I'm going to be really pissed off if there's not anything in here."

"There has to be. We found the ammunition so there has to be something in here." Hirano said and Takashi nodded his head, both pushed against the crow bar and with enough effort the crowbar snapped the lock on the locker and both boys fell onto the ground with a grunt making Ichigo look up.

"Jesus Christ!" Ichigo shouted as he got a look in the locker.

"Hello!" Takashi grinned as he looked in the locker before he was pushed out of the way by Hirano.

"I knew it!" Hirano laughed.

"Is everything ok?" Chad asked looking in the room from the balcony.

"Yeah Chad." Ichigo said. "But I think we hit the motherload with Marikawa-sensei's friend." Takashi looked over his shoulder at Ichigo while Hirano reached into the locker and started to shake in excitement as he pulled out a weapon from inside.

"Speaking of that, should we start calling her by her first name?" Takashi asked. "I mean, we're not in school anymore and it seems kind of weird to call her Sensei still."

"I agree." Chad said.

"You don't talk much do you?" Takashi asked looking over at Chad who just stared at him. "I guess not..."

"I think we should ask her on that one." Ichigo said as they heard Tatsuki scream down the stairs. "I think that's the first time I heard Tatsuki scream..." Ichigo said with a blush on his cheeks and Chad nodded in agreement.

* * *

"That's cold!" Tatsuki screamed as Orihime giggled as she lowered the pan she had filled with cold water that she had tipped down Tatsuki back as her friend glared at her.

"Rei don't grab me there!" Shizuka shouted as Rei groped the older woman's breast from across the bath, the blonde was blushing up a storm as the teenager gripped and pulled on her large breasts.

"These things can't be real! They're too big! Freakishly big!" Rei shouted in annoyance.

"Tatsuki! Don't be mad it was just a little cold water come on don't sulk in the corner!" Orihime said to the crouched naked girl in the corner who lifted her head to glare at Orihime who chuckled sheepishly as she rubbed the back of her head.

"Boys must love your sexy voice." Saeko said to Tatsuki with a sly smile who turned her glare onto the sword user.

"What's her sexy voice got to do with anything?" Takagi asked as she soaped up her hair.

"Why am I the smallest!" Tatsuki pouted as she continued her self depression in the corner of the bathroom.

"But you're taller than Takagi, Tatsuki." Orihime said somehow getting both Takagi and Tatsuki to stand next to one another and pulled a measuring tape out of who knows where to show that Tatsuki was indeed taller.

"That's not what I meant Orihime!" Tatsuki shouted gripping the girl by her shoulders. "You're not so much of a ditz that you can't understand this!" Orihime tilted her head before her eyes went wide and she looked down with a blush as two hands were massaging her breasts.

"These are huge too! Almost as big as Marikawa-sensei's!" Rei exclaimed.

"God you're like a dog in heat!" Tatsuki shouted punching Rei in the face.

"That's what ya get for being a pervert." Takagi sighed before freezing cold water rushed over her head and she screamed.

"Oh wow, yours is ever better than Tatsuki's." Saeko giggled as she soaped up her hands and began to soap up her arms and breasts. "I bet all the boys love to make you make a sound like that."

"You're a damn pervert too!" Takagi shouted grabbing the detachable shower head and turning it too cold and spraying the sword user.

"OOOOOOOOHHHHH" Saeko moaned before glaring at Takagi.

"You brought it on yourself!"

"We should all have a drink." Shizuka sighed as she reclined back into the bath relaxed seeing now that she wasn't being molested by a teenager.

"We're under-age." Takagi told her with irritation.

"I'm not going to tell your parents." Shizuka giggled. "Come on it will be fun." The girls looked to one another before nods were shared. "Alright then let's rinse off and go have a drink!" She squealed as everyone jumped into the bath with her making water splash everywhere.

"More big ones!" Rei shouted and all the girls screamed as she attacked.

* * *

"Could they possibly make any more noise." Hirano asked.

"Girls will be girls." Chad said.

"I dibs shower first." Ichigo told them to make the others nod their heads. Hirano and Takashi were putting bullets into guns and checking over everything. Ishida walked up the stairs with a cup of tea and sighed as he pushed his glasses up.

"The girls are out of the bathroom." Ishida spoke as he reached the bedroom and took a seat on the floor next to Takashi.

"Good." Ichigo said, rolling off the bed. "I can finally go shower." Ishida nodded his head and waited for Ichigo to go down the stairs before a smirk covered his face.

"Ah, revenge for all the annoying stuff he has done in the past."

"What are you talking about?" Takashi asked looking over at the bow user.

"ISHIDA!" Ichigo's roar of anger could be heard all throughout the house.

"Ah and now revenge is fulfilled." Ishida chuckled. "I'm so glad Marikawa-sensei could help me out with this."

"What's going on down there?" Hirano asked looking at the stairs over the top of the bed.

"I would rather not know." Chad simply said making the glasses wearing boy nod his head and gulp. Meanwhile down stairs Ichigo was in somewhat of a predicament with a drunk Shizuka while the other girls were laughing... clad in things barely questionable as underwear while Shizuka was simply in a towel.

"Come on Ichigo have a drink with us!" Shizuka said nuzzingly her cheek into his. "Ishida said you would!"

"Ishida you bastard!" Ichigo growled as Shizuka's arms slipped over Ichigo's shoulders and down his chest before she reached out and grabbed the sake bottle that Saeko who was dressed in a towel held out for her and brought it to her lips and drank.

"Let me go have a shower." Ichigo said. "I might... I repeat might! Have a drink with you." Ichigo said making Shizuka giggle and agree and let him slip from her arms. He picked up a towel from the cupboard as Shizuka and Saeko watched him.

"We will be waiting!" Shizuka called waving the bottle at him and Ichigo sighed as he opened the bathroom door and was met with heat from the girls bath.

"You would think they would have cracked a window or something." Ichigo thought to himself as he turned the shower on and ran his hand under the water till it got to the right temperature and started to undress. His clothes were caked in dried blood from the days fighting, everything apart from his boxes and briefs were covered in blood. Ichigo sighed as he threw his bloody clothes into the wash basket while placing his briefs and boxes on the sink. He had to where something and he wasn't about to walk out in a towel where a drunk groping teacher was, and reminded himself that he would have to do some washing before too long.

Ichigo stepped into the shower the windows already steaming up as he stepped underneath the running water. He closed his eyes and he felt the dried blood that was stuck to his skin start to wash away and he ran his hand through his hair getting the clots of blood from the strands of orange hair. Blood and water mixed at the bottom of the shower before going down the drain and Ichigo reached for a bottle of body wash and flicked the lid and smelt and recoiled as he opened his eyes.

"Female essence? A gun nut that's a girl that has girl body wash... this chick is seriously weird." Ichigo said putting the body wash down. "I wonder if she has anything better?" He started to go through the indoor shower cupboard and finally found a decent body wash. "That's more like it, must be a past boyfriends or something." He mumbled as he started to lather his body up. He rinsed off and stood underneath the head of the shower for a few minutes more before turning the shower off and stepping off and reaching for his towel only to find it missing.

He heard the door close and the colour drained from his face. Someone had snuck in and taken his towel all without him noticing! He walked over to a cupboard and tried to find anything that would resemble a towel but didn't find anything.

"Ichigo come on I want a shower!" Ishida called out and Ichigo just knew that damn idiot was smirking.

"Ishida I am going to kick your ass!" Ichigo roared on the other side of the door. "Give me my towel back!"

"You took his towel?" Ichigo heard Ishida ask only to get giggling in response.

"Ishida!" Ichigo roared again only for the door to open and a towel to be held out and Ichigo snatched the towel from the person's grip before closing the door. "I was sure I locked the damn door!" Ichigo growled as he dried his hair off before realising this wasn't the towel he had got and it was slightly damp. "Damn it! The woman is insane!" Ichigo quickly dried off and pulled on his briefs and boxes before slinging the towel over his shoulder and heading for the door and opened it and Ishida just smirked and walked into the bathroom while Ichigo scowled at him and as he walked past slapped the wet towel into Ishida's face with a resounding snap. Ishida groaned as Ichigo heard the door closed and smirked before he saw Shizuka in the towel he had originally got.

"How was your shower?" Shizuka asked with a slight giggle. "Ready to drink with us now?"

"I said might." Ichigo said as he threw the towel into another clothes basket. "Who snuck into the bathroom?"

"It's not sneaking if the door is unlocked." Saeko smiled at him as she walked from inside the kitchen and Ichigo's jaw dropped as from what Ichigo's point of view was showing was her only clad in an apron.

"What the hell are you wearing!" He shouted, making her look down.

"Oh this? I couldn't find anything in my size so I had to make do until I finished with the washing I'm wearing this, but I guess it's too revealing."

"Damn right it is!" Ichigo shouted as he brought his hands up to his face.

"If it's too revealing then why are you peeking through your fingers?" Tatsuki asked, walking up next to him. "Your a pervert Ichigo." She growled as she jabbed him in the ribs. Ichigo hunched over and looked to Tatsuki who was wearing a singlet that was at least two sizes too big for her and Ichigo couldn't see what she was wearing underneath. "Now your looking at me!" She shouted as she brought her foot to meet his face but he leaned back and she missed.

"Why is nobody dressed down here!" Ichigo roared.

"God are you always so loud?" Takagi asked and Ichigo looked over to the pink haired girl and sighed.

"At least you have some damn modesty!" He sighed.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rei asked annoyed and Ichigo groaned as she was only in her underwear and a pink singlet.

"I'm going up stairs to get some sleep."

"But Ichigo! You said you would have drinks with us!" Shizuka pouted at the orange haired teen.

"Not tonight." Ichigo said as he headed for the stairs. _"Probably never."_ Ichigo thought sadly as he eyed the Humvee keys on the key holder on the wall as he passed them.

"I found pants!" Orihime cheered as she ran out in her bra and a pair of sweatpants.

"That's good now go find a shirt Orihime!" Tatsuki shouted at the bubbly girl.


	6. Chapter 6

It was four am when Ichigo quietly made his way down the stairs and managed to sneak past a barely covered Shizuka and the other sleeping girls around the lounge room floor, he almost tipped over a half empty sake bottle next to the blonde woman before it stabilised and he breathed a sigh of relief as he made his way back into the bathroom. He walked over to the clothes basket and pulled out his clothes he had been wearing through the mess yesterday and pulled on the black shirt leaving the jacket in the basket as he pulled on his pants.

He ran a hand through his hair as he made it out of the bathroom and took the Humvee keys off the key holder on the wall and walked into the kitchen that lead to the front door. He placed the keys on the bench and went to grab his shoes and socks. As he walked back into the kitchen he reached for the keys only to find them missing.

"Going somewhere Ichigo?" Tatsuki asked walking around the bench surprising Ichigo that she was awake, she seemed to be asleep when he had walked through the living room, the keys dangling from her finger.

"Tatsuki." Ichigo said softly. "I need to go get them." Tatsuki looked up to Ichigo and saw determination in his eyes.

"Why are you leaving without saying goodbye?" Tatsuki asked and Ichigo could hear the hurt tone in her voice no matter how hard she had tried to hide it. "We're supposed to be friends aren't we?"

"I told you Tatsuki." Ichigo replied. "I won't always be here."

"I know that!" She hissed at him, keeping her voice low so as not to wake the others in the next room. "I just thought you would say goodbye is all." She said softly as she walked around the bench to stand in front of him and held the keys out to him. "You die out there I'm coming to bring you back and kill you myself." She said with a smirk and Ichigo smiled softly.

"Thanks Tatsuki, you have my cell number if you need anything." Ichigo said taking the keys from her and she nodded her head. "Chad, keep them safe will you?"

"Will do." Chad said from the doorway shocking Tatsuki that she had missed the giant standing in the doorway. "Be safe out there Ichigo." Ichigo turned his head and nodded at his friend. Chad simply nodded his head before turning and walking back into the other room.

"What will you do after you find them?" Tatsuki asked, making Ichigo look back at her.

"That's easy." He grinned. "Find your short ass and make sure you are alright." He told her as he watched her face turn into anger before he placed his hand on her head and she calmed down. "Stay safe Tatsuki." Tatsuki couldn't hold the lone tear that fell from her eye as she wrapped her friend in a hug.

"What am I meant to tell the others you big idiot!" She cried into his shirt as he wrapped his arms around her smaller frame.

"Don't say anything." Ichigo said softly. "You were asleep, when you got up I was gone." Tatsuki pulled back and wiped her eyes.

"You tell anyone I cried and I will kick your ass got that?" She said still wiping her eyes and Ichigo smiled.

"I'll be back Tatsuki, with Yuzu and Karin, just be sure to tell me where you guys end up alright." Tatsuki nodded her head as she watched Ichigo turn and walk to the front door. Ichigo stepped out into the cold morning air and closed the door behind him softly and walked over to the fence and opened the gate before walking to the Humvee and getting seated behind the wheel. He looked back into the house and frowned slightly before turning the ignition and putting the Humvee into drive and turning the wheel driving down where the Bus had originally driven up since the bus was blocking the other direction.

Two and a half hours later found Ichigo finally arriving in Karakura town, there were blockades set up nearly on every street but other than that the streets we're empty he hadn't seen any of 'them' since he had arrived. He drove down the quiet familiar streets before he pulled up outside the Kurosaki clinic. As he stopped the car and turned the ignition off it was the first time he checked his cell since leaving that morning. Several messages missed calls all from Tatsuki's phone from different people.

He mused to check them later and left his cell in the car and took the keys and opened the Humvee door and grabbed the axe of the seat. He walked through the gate and as he removed his hand it was covered in blood and he looked to the door to see that there were blood stains on it. Ichigo rushed around the side of the house to where the large window was and threw the axe smashing the window before climbing through.

He picked the axe back up and headed for the stairs and rushed up them and when he got to his door he saw a puddle of blood in the hallway. His heart was beating faster and faster as he made his way to his door.

He raised his hand and knocked.

"Karin." He called out softly. "It's me. Ichigo."

"B-Brother?"

"Yeah Karin it's me!" Ichigo said a smile coming to his face as he heard the furniture being moved from the door, his sisters were alright. As the door opened slowly and Karin's face became visible and saw her older brother, Ichigo dropped the axe and Karin flung the door open and threw herself at her brother as tears ran down her face. Ichigo hugged her in return and looked back into his room... where was Yuzu?

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" Karin cried as Ichigo's eyes went wide tears started to pool in his eyes. He felt the strength leave his legs as he fell to the ground as Karin cried harder.

"No, she's in the bathroom, or in your room right?" Ichigo asked as he stood up slipping in the puddle of blood before moving on down the hall as Karin cried louder. He opened the door to the bathroom. "Yuzu, it's me Ichigo. You can come out now." He called out with a smile on his face. "You don't have to be afraid any more."

"Ichigo don't!" Karin shouted as Ichigo went to open the twins bedroom door. "Don't open it!" She screamed as Ichigo opened the door and was assaulted with the foul smell of death. In the centre of the half pink and half blue room was a body covered by a sheet and Ichigo collapsed to his knees.

"YUZU! Wake up Yuzu!" Ichigo crawled over to the body. "Please wake up!" As he reached the body he noticed the large dark red stain on the carpet where her head lay and he fell back pushing himself away and up against the wall as he saw the offending bat in the corner of the room covered in blood, Yuzu's blood.

Ichigo reached up and gripped handfuls of his orange hair and screamed as tears ran from his eyes. Karin was leaned up against the wall outside crouched down sobbing as she listened to her brother scream, she swore she would never enter that room again, not after what she did to Yuzu.

It was almost an hour later when Ichigo walked out of the room and closed the door behind him. He looked down to see Karin her knees pulled up to her chest crying and looking up at him. He bent down and wrapped his arms around her and picked her up and walked back to his room. When Ichigo closed his door after laying Karin down on his bed the room was filled with silence.

"Are you ok?" Ichigo asked softly all he got was a nod back. "I'm sorry you had to do that to Yuzu."

"She was bitten." Karin told him calming down enough to form adherent words instead of blubbering words. "She told me it happened on the way home from school, she didn't tell me until I started to barricade your door. That's when she coughed up blood and started to act weird." Ichigo nodded his head.

"Get some sleep Karin." Ichigo told her. "We have a long drive." Karin looked up at her brother that was looking over the black velvet case she had got from underneath her parents bed, she hadn't been able to get it open as it was locked. She watched as Ichigo pulled out a key from his desk that underneath several of his old school textbooks and inserted it into the lock.

"Where are we going?"

"Back to Tatsuki and the others." He told her as he opened the case revealing a red silk blanket. "It will be safer with them." Karin nodded her head as Ichigo lifted the silk blanket and began to unwrap it. She was amazed when a sword was revealed beneath the silk. Ichigo looked over his shoulder. "Get some sleep, I will pack everything up." She nodded her head and laid back down on the bed and rolled away from Ichigo so her back was to him. Ichigo gripped the black sheath of Zangetsu and pulled the blade out revealing its entire black glory.

* * *

After a few hours Ichigo had some clothes of his own and Karin's clothes along with everything Karin and Yuzu had brought up to his room and had packed it into the Humvee. When he had picked Karin up from his bed and placed her in the back seat of the Humvee she didn't stir once, making Ichigo wander how much sleep she had gotten the night before.

It was one o'clock in the afternoon when Ichigo found himself leaving Karakura town, he had left a note for his old man to come to Tokonosu City on the table, there was no way he was dragging Karin into a mess like that, the was no way he could deal with the loss of his sister and his father both.

When Karin awoke it was about an hour into the drive and she climbed into the front seat next to Ichigo.

"There's food and drinks in a bag at your feet." Ichigo said as he yawned. "Pass me up an energy drink." Karin nodded her head and reached into the bag and pulled the can from the bag and handed it to him. With one hand, the other on the steering wheel he cracked the can and downed half the liquid inside.

"Where did you get the Humvee?" Karin asked, looking at the military machine.

"Oh this crazy nurse." Ichigo told her. "She was from Fujimi academy, the school nurse there. We made it to her friend's house last night and it's her friends I borrowed it this morning."

"Borrowed?" Karin asked.

"Well Tatsuki knows I borrowed it. I left at four in the morning. I was planning on leaving earlier maybe around eleven last night so I would be back by morning but I needed more sleep." Karin nodded her head. "Do you mind checking my cell?" Ichigo asked and Karin nodded her head and picked his phone up and flipped it open.

"Someone's popular." Karin smiled. "Let's see... a couple of messages asking where you are signed from different people but all from Tatsuki's phone." Ichigo nodded his head. "This one's from Tatsuki." She told him. "'Staying another night at Marikawa-sensei's friends house. Tatsuki.'" Ichigo smiled.

"I know where I'm going then." Ichigo said and Karin nodded her head and fell back into her seat and stared out the windscreen. "It's going to be alright Karin." Ichigo told her. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

* * *

"I told you something like this was going to happen." Takagi said crossing her arms. "I knew we should have just let him go at the start."

"Would you please shut your whiny trap!" Tatsuki shouted at the pink haired girl. "Ichigo will be back."

"You have no way of knowing that." Rei said sadly. "Did he take anything else other than the Humvee?"

"Not that we can tell." Ishida replied. "All the gun's are still accounted for and we have no way to know if he took any food."

"Ichigo will be back!" Tatsuki shouted again. It was mid afternoon, most of them had slept to midday exhausted from all the running they had done yesterday so most didn't even know he was gone until a few hours ago. Saeko was unusually quiet her mind a mix of worry and confusion. Worry for what Ichigo was currently dealing with in the world they now lived in and confusion as to why everyone apart from what seemed to be Tatsuki and Chad were against him.

"Do you know something?" Saeko asked Tatsuki who's head whipped around to her.

"What?"

"Do you know something about Ichigo?" The rest of the group had gone quiet as Saeko spoke. Tatsuki sighed and looked to Chad who simply nodded once making her sigh again as she turned back and she nodded her head.

"Yeah... he left early this morning." Eyes were wide on all faces apart from Chad's. "It was about four wasn't it Chad?"

"Yes."

"You just let him go?" Rei asked. "Out into all this by himself?"

"I didn't have a choice!" Tatsuki snapped. "Ichigo's sisters are out there all on their own locked in his bedroom waiting for him to come get them! What else was I supposed to do!" She shouted. "He promised he would be back."

"We've been trying to contact him for hours, ever since we awoke." Ishida replied calmly. "There is no way to know what's happened to him."

"I suggest we..." Chad started but stopped and listened to the entire room going quiet.

"What is it Chad?" Tatsuki asked.

"It's a car." Everyone stood up and ran to the large window on the side of the house and sure enough Shizuka's friend Humvee was pulling back into the car park.

"I told you he would be back!" Tatsuki shouted with a wide grin running for the door and shot it wide open and ran out onto the small area before bouncing her way down the stairs and stopped at the gate, remembering what could be lurking there way around outside of it. Carefully she pulled the gate open and looked around once seeing the street empty and devoid of life she stepped out only to bump into Ichigo.

"Yo Tatsuki." Ichigo said but Tatsuki ignored him and ran and embraced Karin shocking the younger girl making her drop the bag she was carrying.

"I'm so glad you are safe Karin, where's Yuzu?" She asked looking around before noticing the silence. She looked down into Karin's eyes and saw tears starting to form in the usually strong willed girls eyes. She looked over at Ichigo only to see him with an emotionless look on his face. She pulled Karin to her and Karin returned the hug burying her face into Tatsuki's chest crying. "I'm so sorry Karin." Tatsuki whispered as the younger girl cried harder.

"Come on, get her inside I will get the rest of the stuff." Ichigo told Tatsuki as he placed the bag he had grabbed from the Humvee into the fenced off area, Tatsuki nodded her head and brought Karin inside while Ichigo returned to the Humvee grabbing items from the vehicle. Chad had come out to help and Ichigo had nodded his thanks otherwise stayed quiet while the two emptied out the Humvee. The two finally made it back inside the fenced area and Ichigo closed the gate before looking up.

"Welcome back Ichigo." Shizuka smiled. "We were quite worried about you."

"Tch, who said you could come back if you left?" Takagi growled as she folded her arms and looked away.

"Takagi be nice." Rei said before turning to Ichigo. "I'm glad your sister is safe." She continued before her and Takagi walked back into the house. Takashi nodded with a smile, glad he was safe, Hirano was still upstairs mucking around with the guns... in all honesty he didn't even know that Ichigo had left, his mind still on the guns that they had found the night before.

"Have you gotten any rest?" Shizuka asked, walking down the steps. "You look like you could use a few hours."

"I'll be fine." Ichigo told her. "Chad, want to help me get these things into the house?"

"Yeah, I'll go get Ishida." Ichigo nodded and turned to pick up a bag before he felt a grip around his arm stopping him and looked back to the usually bubbly teacher who had a serious look on her face.

"Go rest Ichigo, we don't need you collapsing from exhaustion on us now that you're back." Ichigo sighed but nodded his head and Shizuka smiled before Ichigo bent down and picked up the black velvet case that Zangetsu was wrapped in and walked towards the house up the stairs.

As he walked past Chad he said he was going to rest and both Chad and Ishida nodded their heads knowing how tired he must feel. Tatsuki was in the kitchen fixing a meal up for Karin with Orihime who was trying to reassure the young teen everything would be alright. As Ichigo walked past the kitchen Tatsuki's eyes opened wide as she saw the black case that Zangetsu was held in before he ascended up the stairs.


	7. Chapter 7

Saeko walked up the stairs and smiled lightly as she heard the light snores of Ichigo. She was honestly glad that he had come back and was fine, she found it sad that he had lost one of his little sisters, but was still glad that he was safe along with Karin, she had, had a small chat with the young girl and found her to be much like Ichigo from what she knew of him already.

She finally reached the bedroom and looked over and walked over to the bed where Ichigo was asleep and sat down next to his sleeping form. He was laying on his stomach, his arms up under the pillows with his head tilted to the side showing her his face. Ichigo was shirtless and she couldn't help but want to run her hands over his shoulders to feel the muscles that he had but she refrained herself and simply brushed a stray lock of hair from his face as she looked down at him.

Ever since he had come shambling down the hall covered in blood with that axe grinding at his side, she couldn't help but feel lured by him. When she had seen how the light had gone from his eyes when he first looked up at them to how they returned to their chocolate brown when she had been on the bus with him, she felt captivated by him. She didn't know what it was but from the time they had made it out of the school, she felt her world from now on would revolve around Ichigo Kurosaki... to be honest she didn't mind.

He was strong, loyal and extremely handsome. She had seen him walking the halls or the school grounds of Fujimi Academy and had thought even then he was quite handsome. Her friends from the kendo club had already asked him out on more then one occasion but he had respectfully declined them.

He was always with his friends when she saw him and she had never approached the orange haired teen. Even after all this time she didn't feel like she had the right to love someone. But now... that they were in a world like this maybe she could? Maybe in the world that they lived in now someone could love her back, not worried about the monster she carried or her past. She bent down and brought her lips to his ear.

"Ichigo." She whispered, her breath brushing against his ear. She felt him stir but his eyes were still closed as his mouth was now open and she could feel his breath on her neck. "Ichigo, time to wake up." She whispered into his ear again. She watched as his eyes fluttered open and she pulled back and smiled down at him as he looked up at her with the brown eyes she came to be fascinated with. "Hey." She smiled at him.

"Hey." Ichigo replied as he rested his head still on the pillow his eyes half open as he looked up at her. "How long was I out?" He asked.

"A few hours. It's just past sunset now." Saeko replied. "The others are talking about what we should do from now on. I thought you might want to join." Ichigo pushed himself up and sat up, resting his feet on the ground. He raised both palms to his eyes and rubbed the sleep away before he looked to Saeko and raised an eyebrow at her.

"Is that one of my shirts?" He asked and her face lit up in a blush as she looked down at the shirt she was wearing, it was a red v-neck that revealed a large amount of her cleavage as when she had pulled it on she hadn't really fixed where it sat.

"Ah... well Tatsuki said it would be alright... I still haven't been able to do any washing since we all woke up pretty late today and..."

"It's alright." Ichigo told her. "Tatsuki used to wear my shirts all the time when she stayed over." He shrugged. "Said it was easier to sleep in or whatever. Just a surprise is all." He told her as he stretched his arms forward with a yawn and she nodded her head with a nervous smile.

"Ichigo." She said and he looked back at her. "I'm really glad you're back." She told him. "I was worried when you weren't here when we awoke." She rested her hand on his thigh and squeezed making him look at her with wide eyes. "I... I don't know what I would have done if you didn't come back." She told him honestly. Ichigo looked at her with wide eyes not knowing what to say. "I don't know why, but I'm attracted to you, to your person to your personality, I just wanted you to know that." She told him

"Saeko..."

"It's alright." She told him taking her hand off his thigh. "You don't have to say anything." She said with a smile as she stood up showing that she wasn't wearing any pants that he could see as his shirt came down to her mid thigh. "We have a lot more things to deal with then my little crush on you." She giggled. "Come on, get dressed and come down stairs. The others are waiting." Ichigo nodded dumbly as she walked towards the stairs and took the first few down and turned back to look at him. "I do care for you Ichigo." She said as she continued down the stairs as Ichigo just sat there in silence.

* * *

Karin was sitting quietly in the kitchen on a stool, her knees were brought up to her chest as she watched Orihime make her way around the kitchen making an assortment of food. She had heard her brother tell her that she had always had a weird taste but she had never expected it to be this weird. Sure she had made normal food for everyone else knowing that they would probably not like her own tastes but her own meal... she had thought it would melt the skin from the bones before it hit the stomach.

A hand rested on her head and she looked up to see Ichigo with a smile on his face as he looked down at her.

"Hey, how are you doing Karin?" He asked her as he walked over to the kettle and pulled a cup from one of the top cupboards.

"I'm fine." She told him. "I'm not sure if Orihime's stomach will be though." She said glancing at Orihime who was smiling widely as she sprayed half her plate with tomato sauce before spraying the other half in barbecue sauce. Ichigo looked over at the bubbly girl and chuckled to himself as he poured the water into the cup filling the room with the strong aroma of coffee. "But other than that meal, she's a pretty good cook."

"Yeah, she used to bring me lunch to school." Tatsuki said walking into the kitchen. "I usually took money to buy my lunch but Orihime put a stop to that and made my lunch everyday." She said as she sat down next to Karin. "Making me one Ichigo?"

"Did ya ask?" Ichigo asked with a smirk.

"It's called being considerate you ass!" She growled at him before leaning back in her chair. "What was Karakura like?"

"Empty." Ichigo told her. "Nothing was insight."

"That's strange..."

"Not really." Karin said. "I saw from the window all of 'them' were shambling their way in the same direction. I heard sirens and announcements coming from the elementary school."

"It would have been a massacre." Ichigo said. "They are attracted to sound."

"Come on let's go see what the plan from here is." Tatsuki told them as Orihime bounced over to the three.

"Hungry Tatsuki? Look what I made!" She said holding the plate out to her and Tatsuki's face turned green before she turned away almost gagging at the sight of the plate.

"I'm ok Orihime, I ate already." Orihime nodded her head before walking with Tatsuki into the other room leaving Karin and Ichigo in the kitchen, his back to her as he stirred his coffee.

"Karin." Ichigo spoke, his tone serious but soft at the same time.

"Yeah Ichigo?" Karin asked looking up to her brother.

"I'm not going to ask you to fight." He said looking over his shoulder at her. "I have no right to ask, I couldn't even protect you and Yuzu." He told her making her eyes go wide. "But if you want to fight, I won't stop you. From here out your no longer a kid alright. Whatever anyone tells you, you have as much right as them. If they say your a kid tell them to fuck off. They keep saying it tell me and I'll cave there skull in, got it?"

"You told me never to swear Ichigo." Karin chuckled lightly.

"Just on this certain occasion I'll give you permission alright?" Karin nodded her head as Ichigo walked past her. "Come on, let's go see what's going to happen." Karin nodded her head as she stepped from the stool she was seated upon and walked after her brother who sat down on the couch setting his coffee down on the small table in front of him. Everyone was seated around the small table sitting quietly no one knew how to start a conversation like this.

"Obviously you of those that live near here want to search for your families." Ishida said starting the conversation, as he pushed his glasses up. "Am I right?"

"Yeah." Rei agreed. "We live across the bridge." Ishida thought for a moment.

"From what I can tell, all bridges to the other side would be cut off to halt spreading the infection." Ishida told them. "So getting across the bridges would be either a long wait or even more of a challenge than that."

"So you're saying we swim?" Chad asked.

"No, I'm saying we have to find another way over. I believe that certain Humvie's can drive through water so that is one way."

"The Humvie won't fit us all." Takashi said running a hand through his hair. "I'm not sure if the bus would be able to make it through water."

"Agreed." Takagi answered. "It's either some of us take the Humvee over before coming back and grabbing the others and ditching the Humvee all together or finding another way across." She finished leaning back and folding her arms. "I for one don't want to be walking the streets."

"It would be too dangerous to travel on foot." Saeko told them. "We should find another way around so that the bus can get through. Not only is it a vehicle big enough to fit all of us but it is also big enough for somewhere to sleep if need be."

"It's like our own portable home." Shizuka giggled and a few others chuckled at the older woman's antics. Tatsuki looked over to Ichigo to see him staring down at his coffee that had steam rising from it. She knew what he was thinking and there was no way he was going to bring it up. She steeled her own resolve as the laughter died down and the room went quiet once more and she spoke up.

"There may be no guarantee that your families are alive." Tatsuki told them as the room fell even quieter if it was even possible. "We probably can only look for one family at a time without splitting the group up."

"Tatsuki's right." Saeko told them. "We will be looking for one family at a time and we can only spend a few days searching for each family before we have to move on and search for another. Then when we have searched and if we find your families or not... we will need to find a place to call our own. A place we can barricade, enough so that we may be able to expand if necessary. But I think we can deal with that later when we have found your families."

"Who lives the closest?" Ishida asked.

"It's hard to say." Rei said as she looked over at him. "We all live in the same neighbourhood but Takagi's place is probably closest." Takashi nodded in agreement.

"That settles it then." Shizuka said clapping. "We have a plan! Yay go team!"

"Someone should really shut her up." Takagi mumbled.


	8. Chapter 8

Tatsuki breathed a sigh inside the shower. Unlike the previous night the female's of the group had decided to take separate showers so she was quite glad at that, even if they didn't she probably would have had her own shower anyway. It had been a tiring day, mentally that is. It was nothing compared to the horror of what they had experienced yesterday on the way from Fujimi Academy.

But with the disappearance of Ichigo, it had been hard. It took all of her willpower not to go with him that morning. The only reason she hadn't brought it up was because she knew that Ichigo would have shot her down, they would have gotten into an argument and the others would have awoken meaning Ichigo would have never got Karin back later that afternoon. But when he was gone, she was even surrounded with countless others... Tatsuki felt alone.

She leaned up against the wall of the shower, letting the hot water run over her form as she looked down at the floor of the shower and thought back to what Saeko had said back on the bus, asking if she had already set her sights on Ichigo. The true answer was... she didn't know. Even back before Karakura High burnt down she had tried to come to her feelings for her childhood friend and didn't know how to go with it.

The only person who actually knew she was having these damn thoughts was Keigo! How the idiot knew what she was thinking was beyond her but he had actually been a good friend and been there for her. Of course he was also trying to get her and Ichigo together but in all honesty she didn't mind it.

When in class and her daydreams took her away, much like Orihime's just a whole lot more sane. She often found herself in her childhood's friends arms or in passionate embraces. On more than one occasion she had been alone during these thoughts late at night which frustrated her to no end. She blushed remembering some of the very intimate dreams she had of Ichigo as her hands started trailing her curves making her hands stand on end as she imagined them to be Ichigo's.

"Tatsuki, you almost done in there?" Orihime's voice called out making Tatsuki sigh once more.

"Yeah Orihime, be out in a minute." Tatsuki called out as she stepped underneath the water once more and turned the water to cold. _"This is not the time to be thinking about Ichigo like that."_ She sighed again. Tatsuki finally stepped out of the shower and grabbed her towel and began to dry herself before wrapping the towel around her form and walking towards the door. She opened it to be greeted with the ever bubbly face of Orihime. "All done."

"Did you forget your clothes Tatsuki?" Orihime asked.

"Yeah, I was just going to borrow one of Ichigo's shirts." Tatsuki said as Ichigo walked down the stairs shirtless with a shirt hanging over his shoulder as he made his way to the kitchen. "Speaking of which, I have to get one." She smiled and Orihime nodded before walking into the bathroom and Tatsuki walked into the kitchen up behind Ichigo before snatching the shirt of his shoulder making him turn and look at her in surprise only to blush as she pulled the shirt over her head letting the towel drop to the floor after the shirt was in place.

"Tatsuki what the hell?" Ichigo asked as Tatsuki knelt down and picked her towel up.

"I needed a shirt." She grinned. "You weren't using it." Ichigo's scowl increased tenfold making Tatsuki laugh. "Lighten up Ichigo, I'm sure all the girls would love to get another look." She told him.

"You also said it was alright for Saeko, are my clothes up for sale now?" Ichigo asked with a raised eyebrow making Tatsuki smirk again.

"It was either that or the apron..." She trailed watching his eyes go wide and a blush to cover his cheeks.

"Fine." He told her. "Just make sure you put something on underneath that... I think there is enough nudity in this house as there is." He sighed making her grin.

"Nope! Totally not going to!"

"Why the hell not!" Ichigo roared.

"Because it's more comfortable." She said folding her arms. "Don't be a pervert and try to look at me again." She said narrowing her eyes.

"I didn't even look at you!"

"Sure you didn't." Tatsuki grinned. "Always knew you were a pervert Ichigo." She sighed. "I guess it just took a while to mature in your system."

"Not a damn pervert, now go put something on already!"

"What I'm ready for bed." She shrugged. "Where is everyone anyway?"

"Hirano and Takashi along with Chad and Ishida are all upstairs... Last I saw Rei and Takashi we're getting into an argument, Orihime was heading for a shower. Karin and Takagi are asleep on the couches while Saeko and Marikawa-sensei are... actually I don't know where they are." Ichigo shrugged.

"I think Shizuka is drunk... again." Tatsuki sighed. "I wonder where Saeko is?"

"I'm here." Saeko smiled as she walked into the kitchen. "Did you need me for something?" She asked.

"Oh we were just wondering where everyone was is all." Tatsuki told her. "Hey that shirt looks good on you." She giggled.

"As does that one on you." Saeko smiled. "Thanks again for letting me borrow one Ichigo."

"Yeah don't mention it." Ichigo sighed as he turned and opened the fridge door. "Better than that apron anyway." He heard giggling from behind and grabbed a juice box before closing the fridge door and turning to see Tatsuki with a grin and Saeko with a small smile on her face. "So... uh... I'm going back upstairs."

"You might want to hold off on that." Saeko told him making him raise an eyebrow. "Takashi and Rei are having kind of an... intimate moment." Ichigo sighed while Tatsuki grunted in annoyance.

"In the staircase? Seriously we have to walk on that!" Tatsuki huffed before everything went quiet as the sounds of a gun shot was heard throughout the whole house. All three adorned a serious look on their face before they headed for the stairs to see Takashi already heading up and Rei to be sitting as the three passed her on the way up.

"What's going on?" Takashi asked.

"Not good man." Hirano told them. "They were occupied with what was going on at the bridge but now... they're coming back this way. The street below is already starting to fill with them."

"We should get out of here as soon as possible." Chad told them. "If we leave it to morning we might not make it, the streets will be filled with them."

"How will we get to the bus and Humvee?" Saeko asked taking the offered binoculars from Hirano and looking out into the mess that was now happening outside. "We would need some sought of distraction, to lure them away again."

"What did you have in mind?" Takashi asked as he stood next to her looking over the side of the balcony. Holding the shotgun that Hirano had handed to him as he had made his way up the stairs. "We can't leave these people out there to die." Takashi said as he got a view of what was happening.

"What would you have us do?" Saeko asked with narrowed eyes.

"Easy I'll go out there and..."

"And what?" Saeko asked again. "Did you forget? They are drawn to the slightest little sound." She said walking back inside and hit the light sending the room into darkness making everyone look over at her. "And the living... are drawn to the light like bugs to the flame."

"We can't save everyone." Tatsuki told Takashi. "There are those out there that we can't help, you have to accept that now." Takashi closed his eyes and looked away.

"So we save our families and no one else? How does that make us any better than others?"

"It doesn't." Ichigo said standing up. "You want to go out there risk your life before you find your family go right ahead." Takashi looked away from Ichigo's gaze. There was a scream from outside making Hirano run to the balcony and Takashi to look down. Ichigo turned to look at Tatsuki who had a solemn look on her face. "Tatsuki..." Tatsuki looked up.

"I know how this world is going to work from now on Ichigo. Don't worry about me ok?" She smiled at him. "Come on let go down sta-!" She was cut off with the sound of a gunshot that came from the gun Hirano was holding.

"I thought you weren't going to shoot."

"But it's a little girl!" Hirano shouted. "You go get her, I'll cover you from here."

"Right!" Takashi said as he walked back into the room to see Ichigo looking down at the ground behind the bed. "You going to stop me?" He asked.

"No." Ichigo said, reaching down. "I'm coming with you." He said as he placed the black velvet case on the bed. "You're going to need more than a baseball bat in that mess out there."

"Ichigo, you don't have to do this." Chad said as he watched his friend open the case and began to unwrap the sword inside.

"There is a little girl out there that needs our help." Ichigo said standing up the sword in his grip. "Just because we should look after our own, doesn't mean we should throw away our humanity. I've found Karin. I know she's safe. This little girl needs our help. Come on Takashi." Takashi nodded his head and followed Ichigo down the stairs.

"That guy just doesn't know when to stop saving people does he?" Ishida asked with an amused grin.

"If he stopped he wouldn't be Ichigo any more." Tatsuki said a small smile on her face. "This world is changing, the people along with it. Ichigo will eventually have to change his ways but until then... he will continue to protect the ones closest to him."

"Takashi what's going on?" Rei asked as both Ichigo and Takashi stepped down onto the first floor.

"There's a little girl that needs our help." Takashi told her.

"Wait I'll come with you."

"Let them go alone." Saeko smirked before noticing the blade in Ichigo's grip as he started to tie the sheath to his pants. "That's an incredible piece of work." She said as Ichigo looked up at her.

"You can have a look when we get back." Ichigo told her. "I don't think after all this shooting that Hirano is doing we will be able to stay here for much longer. I suggest you guys get everything packed in the bus, Takashi we're taking the Humvee."

"We are?" Takashi asked and Ichigo nodded his head.

"We need enough sound to draw the dead away from the house. The Humvee will make enough noise so that everyone can pack their gear into the bus with no trouble. Then we can get the girl and we won't have to worry about making our way back. We can just follow the bus straight out."

"Sounds like a plan." Saeko smiled. "I'll wake everyone up. Rei, get the keys for the bus..."

"Make sure Marikawa-sensei is dressed." Ichigo sighed as the four of them looked over to the teacher who was currently snuggling against a sleeping Karin in nothing but a towel.

"Will do, wouldn't want you two looking now would we?" Saeko grinned making Ichigo and Takashi blush.

"Come on let's go." Ichigo said, gaining a small laugh from Saeko. As Ichigo walked passed he grabbed the keys for the Humvee and both Takashi and Ichigo exited the house.

"He's... kind of become our un-designated leader huh?" Rei asked as she saw Saeko's lingering eyes.

"What?" Saeko asked snapping her eyes to Rei. "Who?"

"The one you were just ogling." Rei giggled. "Does the big bad Miss Busujima have a crush?"

"Shut up it's not like that!" Saeko shouted waving her arms about a blush on her cheeks before calming down. "So what if I do like him... I've already told him." Rei's eyes widened at that. "But I also told him that now is not to worry about things like a crush... Rei... Leave everything with Takashi for now. Let's find our families and then talk about it. OK?" Rei looked to her feet before the door and back to Saeko.

"Yeah... you're right." She smiled. "It can wait, we need to work together." Saeko nodded her head.

"Come on let's go get everyone ready."

* * *

"Are you sure you know how to drive this thing?" Takashi asked as he sat in the passenger seat, Ichigo already turning the ignition on.

"I drove it practically all day." Ichigo shrugged. "I learnt on the way, plus the bus was a good help." Ichigo chuckled as he saw Takashi reach up for the hand grip above his head with a nervous smile as Ichigo put the Humvee into drive. Almost immediately after the car had started the dead had already turned and started to walk towards the vehicle only to be hit as Ichigo drove down the road both Ichigo and Takashi jumping in their seats as bodies ran underneath the car. They watched as a few of the corpses hit the ground from Hirano's expert aiming before Ichigo turned the wheel and ground the car up against the fences before coming along to the open gate blocking the entrance. He opened the door into the gate and slid out Takashi following after him with his baseball bat.

Takashi watched with wide eyes at the speed Ichigo had drawn Zangetsu from its sheath and sliced the head off one of the three dead inside the gate. Takashi ran to where the little girl was crouched down and slammed the side of his bat into the side of one of the undead's head sending it flying to the fence and splattering it's head all over the bricks.

"There's one behind you!" The little girl shouted at Ichigo who looked over before turning and kicking it down and bringing Zangetsu up and ramming the blade through it's skull.

"Thanks." Ichigo smiled as he saw the little dog that was seemingly trying to protect the girl. "You alright?" With a happy yip from the dog and a nod from the girl he sighed. "Takashi let's get them in the Humvee and back to the others." Takashi nodded his head as Ichigo felt a tug on his shirt and looked down to see the young girl looking up at him.

"See that man..." She said pointing to a man in a white button up shirt with a large patch of blood on his stomach. "That was my daddy." Takashi walked over to the clothes line and took a shirt off and picked up a small flower from the garden and spread the shirt over the man's body before holding the flower out to the girl.

"I saw what happened... he was trying to protect you, even if he didn't get in himself." She gripped onto Ichigo's shirt tighter as tears threatened to spill. "He was a brave man, and probably a great father." Ichigo led her over to Takashi and the dead body and she took the flower off Takashi and knelt next to her father tears running down her face. "I'm sorry." Takashi said as she cried. Both Ichigo and Takashi remained silent for a time, knowing that they were somewhat safe. The Humvee was blocking the entrance to the yard and until they could see the bus pass them they would have to stay so they could follow them out. They heard the engine of the bus and looked to see Shizuka driving while wiping sleep away from her eyes as she shamelessly hit the dead bodies that were walking around.

"Takashi, get in the Humvee and open the top up." Ichigo said. "That way we can pass her up to the bus. She will be safer with them."

"Alright, come with me." He said and she nodded her head reluctantly letting Ichigo's shirt go as she followed Takashi to the Humvee with the little dog behind her wagging its tail. The bus came to a halt next to the Humvee as Takashi opened the top compartment.

"Open the window." Takashi said to Hirano who nodded and slid the window open. "Come on, trust me these guys won't hurt you. They're our friends. We're going to take you somewhere safe."

"O-Okay." She lifted her arms up and Takashi lifted her up onto the top of the car and walked her over to the side of the Humvee before helping her across.

"Tell Marikawa-sensei to head to the bus. We can follow."

"Will do." Hirano said as he helped the little girl into the bus. "Hey I'm Khota. Let me introduce you to everyone."


	9. Chapter 9

It took them awhile but they were able to find a shallow enough place along the river for the Humvee and the bus to drive across. Shizuka had almost got the bus stuck at one point but a little nudge from Ichigo with the bull bar of the Humvie they had gotten her out. So now they were currently on the bank of the other side of the river and it was quiet.

"You guys really need to get changed." Ichigo sighed as he saw that most of the girls were still in clothing that barely resembled underwear or nightwear.

"Oh Ichigo!" Shizuka cheered jumping up and down her breasts going along with her... it was almost memorising. "Good morning! You saved us back there with that little nudge!" She cheered grabbing his head and hugging it to her breasts making him flail about in her grip.

"Man... Ichigo sure is working the girls huh?" Karin asked making Tatsuki facepalm.

"You shouldn't say things like that about your brother Karin." Tatsuki told her. "It's... not true, just some of the girls here... might have a thing for your brother." Karin looked up at Tatsuki who had a mild blush on her face making the young Kurosaki smirk.

"One of them wouldn't happen to be you would it Tatsuki?" Karin questioned making Tatsuki's eyes shoot wide open as she stared down at the black haired teen.

"What! No! Why would you say that!" Karin just smirked and nudged Tatsuki in the stomach.

"Just kidding Tatsuki, who would like him anyway?" She asked with a knowing smirk making Tatsuki sigh. "Come on, Ichigo's right, you girls should get changed." Tatsuki nodded her head as she walked over to Ichigo and Shizuka before pulling Ichigo out of the woman's grip making him take in a deep breath and the nurse to pout as Tatsuki shouted at her.

Karin smiled somewhat before a frown came to her face, how could they act so cheerful during a time like this? Was it a way of coping with everything? No matter how hard she tried she wouldn't be able to be so cheerful like they were being, not after what she had done to Yuzu. All the girls were getting dressed behind the Humvee while the guys were standing at the front of the Humvee with Karin who was already dressed in a pair of jeans and a T-shirt with some sneakers.

"We should check to make sure everything is clear." Ishida said as he placed his quiver on his back and knocked an arrow to the string. Ichigo nodded his head in agreement as he tied Zangetsu to his belt.

"Did you guys want a gun?" Hirano asked as he looked in the bag that they had brought that was filled with the guns from Shizuka's friends gun locker.

"I'm fine." Ishida said. "I can reuse arrows, bullets will be hard to come by later on." Hirano nodded before looking to Ichigo who was looking at Karin.

"You have a handgun?" Ichigo asked as Hirano reached into the bag and pulled out what Ichigo had requested before he pointed to Karin. "She will need it more then I will." Hirano hesitated for a moment as he looked between Karin and Ichigo.

"Are... are you sure?" Hirano questioned.

"She will need to protect herself, if you think I'll let her wonder the streets unprotected then you have another thing coming." Ichigo told him a slight cold tone as he looked at Hirano with a slight glare.

"Ichigo, I don't know how to shoot." Karin told him before he rested a hand on her shoulder and smiled.

"It's a great time to learn." He told her. "I'm sure Hirano could show you a thing or two." He said looking over to the larger kid. "Right?"

"Ah sure thing." Hirano nodded as he stood up and walked over to Karin and handed her the gun and started to go over everything from safety to the right way to hold the gun. Takashi was looking over the shotgun Hirano had handed him while Chad was making sure everything over in the bus was alright as he had the engine revealed from the front, it was a good thing he had studied a mechanics course.

Both Ichigo and Ishida walked up the hill ready for anything, Ishida with an arrow drawn back and Ichigo with Zangetsu half out of the sheath. Both looked at each other before nodding and running up the hill to see the street completely empty. Ichigo had drawn Zangetsu ready to fight whatever might have been up there and Ishida had drawn his arrow all the way back ready to fire it. Both looked around before releasing the tension on their weapons.

"It's dead up here." Ishida said as he looked around. "There isn't any dead or living... nothing."

"Yeah... what's it all mean?"

"Perhaps everyone was able to evacuate... maybe there is a place looking out for people and taking in survivors." Ishida told him as Ichigo ran a hand through his hair. "It's hard to believe..."

"Yeah... hard to think that this is actually real. It's only been a couple of days. It feels like a lot longer." Ishida nodded in agreement before both walked over to the bank to look down at where everyone was. Both averted their eyes away from the back of the Humvie where the girls we're still getting dressed, they were silent for a while before Ishida spoke up.

"I don't really want to say this Ichigo." Ishida told him making the orange haired teen look towards his friend with a raised eyebrow. "But that Shido teacher had a point." Ichigo's scowl increased at the mention of the teacher he had kicked off the bus. "Hear me out, I'm not saying he was right but the idea of a leadership would have helped in situations we have already gone through, most of the time you have been in that position of power. For instance, kicking Shido off the bus, telling Shizuka to turn around and go the long way so we didn't get caught up in the traffic, all these things have gone by on your order."

"What are you saying Ishida? You want me to be the leader of this band of misfits?" Ichigo joked. "Come on be serious, I couldn't lead a dog out of a kennel when I was a kid. I don't think I could lead this group. Leave it to Takashi or Saeko, they seem to know what they are doing. Hell you do it."

"But you have Ichigo, you have been leading us. Takashi stands to the side when situations come up while Saeko looks to you for guidance, while I would rather give the orders I do not have the leadership capabilities to do so." Ishida told him pushing his glasses up. "I hate the idea of taking orders from you though." Ichigo glared at his friend. "But you have done well so far, so just think about it." Ichigo sighed as he saw Karin waving at him and he gave a small wave back before she turned back to Hirano.

"You say I'm a leader." Ichigo said softly. "I just gave my little sister a gun to protect herself, how is that good leadership skills?"

"All leaders have made there mistakes in the past." Ishida told him. "You wanted Karin to be protected so you did what you thought was necessary." Ishida turned to Ichigo. "A fault most leaders have is the power goes to their heads and they tend to forget others' advice. You're not like that Ichigo. You have already proven that." Ichigo sighed before running a hand through his hair.

"I'll think about it." Ichigo told him before they both walked back down the slope towards the others.

"How's everything up there?" Tatsuki asked coming up the side of the Humvee.

"Everything's clear." Ishida told her. "Nothing, no sign of life living or dead." Tatsuki raised a hand to her chin in thought as she looked to the ground.

"Hmm, I wonder if there is a place survivors are huddling up."

"That's what we thought." Ichigo said as he walked over to the Humvee and leaned up against it. "If there is a place like that maybe it would be worthwhile checking it out."

"First we have to find their families." Ishida said, Ichigo nodding in agreement.

"It will at least give them some closure but even so." Tatsuki said, looking over everyone. "Two things will either happen. Either our group will expand or decrease in size." Both Ichigo and Ishida nodded. She was right, they might want to be with their families and some families might want to come along seeing how they have been faring so far already.

"Let's just get to Saya's house and then figure out what we can do from there. It would be better if we can figure out a plan of action while we're not out in the open like this." Ichigo said before he noticed a slight smirk crossing Ishida's face. "Say one word you four eyed freak I'll shove my foot so far up your ass you will be tasting shoe laces." Ishida just chuckled lightly while Tatsuki raised an eyebrow.

"What the hell was that about?"

"Nothing."

* * *

"Tell me again." Ichigo growled as he drove down the road, irritation clear in his features and his voice. "Why the fuck the Humvee is filled with people."

"If I hear 'row row row your boat' one more time I'm going to put a gun to my head and pull the trigger! So shut up and drive!" Tatsuki shouted at him, the back seat was seating Rei, Tatsuki, Saeko and Chad who was very uncomfortable since he was pushed up against the far side while Takashi was seated next to Ichigo in the front with a smile on his face enjoying the peace Ichigo was clearly not enjoying.

"Does anyone know where the hell we're going?" Ichigo asked.

"Yeah just keep going straight up." Takashi told him. "Saya's place is that big house on the hill." Ichigo looked out the windscreen.

"Of course it is, always has to be a big show off, what is her problem anyway?"

"She thinks she is some type of prodigy." Takashi shrugged. "Don't let it get to you, she's like that with everyone." He told Ichigo making Ichigo sigh in annoyance.

**"It's them!"**

"Gah what the fuck was that!" Ichigo shouted in surprise.

**"Distance six hundred meters."**

"It's the walkie talkie." Takashi said pulling it from his pocket. "We found it in the locker." Ichigo nodded his head taking a breath after almost shitting himself.

**"Oi dumb ass take the next right!"** Saya's voice came through, Ichigo growled before turning down the next street, the bus following after him. Ichigo gripped the wheel tighter as he saw there were even more up ahead and closer. **"Take the right!"** Ichigo turned and the back end skidded out making Ichigo growl as the car stalled and they could hear the growls behind them. He turned the ignition as the bus passed them and headed down the road, the Humvee roared to life and Ichigo put it into gear going after the bus just before the dead got to the Humvee.

"Fuck where the hell did they all come from!" Ichigo said looking in the rear view mirror.

"Damn it! We were too relaxed, we should have been more alert!" Saeko hissed gripping her wooden sword tighter. The bus came to a stop and Ichigo drove up beside Shizuka's driver window.

"What's up?"

"There is a wire up ahead." Shizuka told him her face showed she was calm but Ichigo could tell she was shaking in fear. Ichigo gripped the wheel and growled as he looked back out from the rear-view mirror.

"There are too many to go back through." Ichigo said to himself. "Damn it!" He shouted, punching the wheel. "Go to the wire and ditch the bus! We're ditching both vehicles!"

"What!" Everyone shouted.

"It's either that or be eaten alive!" Ichigo roared as he pressed his foot to the gas and drove towards the wire that they were barely able to see through the shambling corpses ahead. Ichigo turned the car so that it was parallel with the wire and opened his door taking Zangetsu with him. "Takashi make sure everyone is over the fence."

"Right! Let's move people!" Takashi shouted as the bus came and parked in front of the Humvee. The door opened and everyone had grabbed their gear and had started to make their way out. Ichigo and Saeko who had taken to helping him had started killing zombies left right and centre as they neared the two vehicles.

"There is too many of them!" Saeko growled out as a shot fired from a gun into a zombies' head right next to Ichigo. He looked back to see Hirano standing up in the Humvee through the roof with a grin as he readied his next shot. Ichigo gave him a nod of thanks before resumed killing anything that was already dead.

"Ichigo!" Karin shouted out. "We have everything come on!" Both Ichigo and Saeko turned back to run before several off the dead blocked their way.

"Shit!" Ichigo cursed as he went back to back with Saeko.

"We came too far out from the cars!" Saeko growled in annoyance.

"Ichigo!" Karin shouted out again.

"Damn it!" Ichigo cursed again swing the black blade of Zangetsu down. "This way come on!" Ichigo shouted gripping Saeko's wrist and running to a side stair well.

"We should make our way back around to the cars." Saeko told him as she matched his speed, both batting dead people away as they got in their way. They reached the stairs only to find that the path led them away from the vehicles.

"Fuck!" Ichigo growled. "Come on this way! We will have to find a way to Saya's place on our own!" Ichigo growled as Saeko nodded and both took off running missing the team dressed as firefighters come up on their friends.


	10. Chapter 10

Both were now breathing heavily, they had been running for what seemed like hours. The sun had gone behind the clouds darkening the sky to an orange hue, but that didn't mean they could rest. The streets were still filled with 'them', the moment that they relax would be the moment they would die.

Saeko quickly pulled Ichigo into a building and quickly shut the door behind them, both breathed heavy sweat dripping from their brows as they hunched over and took in deep breaths, both were athletes and yet the fear of 'them' could take it out more than any sport could.

"We have to get to Takagi's house." Saeko breathed out. "We're heading in the general direction I think." She mused still taking deep breaths.

"We are." Ichigo confirmed wiping his brow of sweat. "Before you pulled me in here I looked over the building's, we're going in the right direction at least, though with all the detours we have had to make since splitting up with the others, it's taken us longer and in all honesty I don't want to be out here at night with those damn things walking around and about."

"Understandable." Saeko nodded in agreement finally regaining some composure over her breathing but it was still heavy. "Fighting in the dark won't be a good idea, we should find a place to hold up, rest and wait till morning." Ichigo nodded looking around the building she had pulled him into. "I don't think this is a place worth staying." Saeko told him with a slight smile.

"Yeah a gardening store... just doesn't have that 'time to sleep' feeling." Ichigo chuckled making Saeko giggle lightly. "Come on." Ichigo told her after the both of them had gotten their breath back. Ichigo walked back to the door and opened it slightly peering through and out into the street, even now the street lights came on illuminating the slightly dark street, a few of 'them' could be seen shambling about.

"Let's go." Ichigo said over his shoulder and saw Saeko nod her head before walking out. Ichigo readied Zangetsu and listened quietly before turning quickly at the sounds of footsteps.

"ICHI-!" Saeko's scream was cut off and Ichigo saw a person wrap a hand around her mouth, effectively cutting off her scream of warning, before the side of baseball bat filled his vision as it was swung at him, his world was filled with a blinding pain and darkness as he began to fall towards the ground, unconsciousness claiming him before he even hit the ground.

* * *

Karin looked out the window from where she was seated in the large bed in the Takagi's mansion. Her thoughts drifted as she sat there, from the times she had spent with her friends and family from before everything had happened. She sighed bringing her legs up to her chest before she heard the en-suite bathroom door open and looked over her should to see Tatsuki walk out of the bathroom a towel draped over her head, idly drying her hair with it with one hand and wearing one of Ichigo's large shirts.

Tatsuki looked up at her and gave her a reassuring smile.

"You know him Karin." Tatsuki told her sitting on the bed next to the younger teen, pulling the towel from her head. "He will be fine." Karin smiled lightly and nodded her head.

"So when are you going to tell him you like him?" Tatsuki's jaw dropped as she looked at the dark haired girl with wide eyes. "Come on Tatsuki, it's kind of obvious if you ask me." Karin smirked at her.

"I have no idea what you're talking about!" Tatsuki huffed, a small blush on her cheeks. Karin raised an eyebrow at her with an amused smirk only to shrug and look away.

"Well, maybe he will find some girl for himself somewhere else then?" She questioned almost to herself noticing the slight tensing of Tatsuki's shoulders. "He is all alone off with Saeko at the moment..." She trailed off hiding her smirk from the older girl.

"Fine! I like him alright!" Tatsuki shouted. "How did you even know!?" Tatsuki asked, slightly irritated that the thirteen year old, almost fourteen could get a secret out of her that she hadn't even told Orihime about.

"Known for a while." Karin shrugged. "Last time you slept over I was pretty sure there was something by the way you looked at him, but I wasn't completely sure until just now." She smirked before a slight knock came from the door.

Tatsuki stood up and walked over to where she had placed a pair of her tight fitting shin length blue jeans, the pair that she had grabbed from the bag Shizuka had brought from her friends house. She pulled them up under Ichigo's large shirt and walked to the door before opening it revealing Shizuka who was smiling.

"What can we do for you Marikawa-sensei?" Tatsuki asked letting the blonde bubbly woman into the room.

"I think it's alright to call me Shizuka from now on Tatsuki." She smiled at the teen. "I just thought I'd come check up on you two, you two walked off pretty quickly when we got here." She told them. "Is this about Ichigo?" She asked both of them.

"We're just hoping he's alright." Karin told her. "He will be alright." She confirmed this time with a smile making the blonde beam back at her.

"You know, you're lucky to have an older brother like Ichigo." Shizuka said taking a seat on the bed. "He was so worried for you and..."

"Yuzu." Karin said softly looking down.

"He was so worried he wasn't going to make it, that he wouldn't get to you in time." Shizuka rose Karin's head and looked into her eyes. "He will make it back, he's strong. Look how far he lead us." Karin nodded her head as Shizuka wrapped her in a hug. The nurse looked over at Tatsuki who smiled lightly as there was someone who was able to comfort Karin, she wasn't the most helpful person when it came to a situation like this, it's better left to people like Shizuka to help. "Come on Tatsuki, I know you want a hug too." Shizuka teased, Karin giggling in the woman's arms.

"No thanks." Tatsuki told her. "I'd rather keep away from those abominations."

"There real though." Shizuka pouted making Tatsuki growl.

"I'm going to find something to do! You just stay with Karin alright!" She huffed marching out of the room hearing laughs from both Shizuka and Karin, slamming the door behind her and leaning up against the now closed door breathing a sigh of relief. The sun had just gone down, and the lights had already come on. "I wonder how long the power will remain on for..." Tatsuki mused to herself.

"Not much longer." A voice said beside her making her eyes go wide as she turned and stared at the woman who had come with the rescue team to save them at the wire. Takagi's mother, Yuriko Takagi.

Tatsuki didn't think this of many women, but she thought Yuriko was beautiful. She has long, light purple hair and eyes of matching colour that looked at everyone with sweetness but hid determination underneath them. Her figure is slender and very well equipped for a woman of her age. At the moment she was in a large black bathrobe and even so, Tatsuki couldn't help but see her overpowering position of the wife of the Don Tokonosu prefecture's ultra-nationalist organisation.

When they had first arrived and she had removed her clothing of the fire squad she came back in a dress in a style which resembled the typical aristocratic attire which consisted of a thin red dress, a white cloth wrapped around her arms and mid to lower body and a silver necklace with a small charm on the front.

"I'm sorry, I didn't see you there." Tatsuki said scratching the back of her head awkwardly.

"It's Tatsuki correct?" Yuriko asked and Tatsuki nodded her head.

"Yes Ma'am." Yuriko smiled at her.

"Don't worry about titles, we're in some hallway and I'm not even dressed." She giggled. "I wanted to ask you something but didn't get the chance to earlier." Tatsuki looked at her with a questioning glance. "Who were the two leading 'them' away from you?" Tatsuki sighed and ran a hand through her hair.

"One of them is my best friend." Tatsuki told her as Yuriko gestured to walk beside her which she did. "The other, a girl we met in school, Ichigo was the one who told us to leave the cars at the wire. He... he's sought of our unnamed leader I guess."

"Oh? I thought that would be Takashi." Yuriko mused. "Why would he willingly lead the dead away from you?"

"To keep Karin safe." Yuriko gave Tatsuki a questioning look. "His little sister."

"Ah, I see. Family means a lot to him then?" Tatsuki nodded. "Saya told me that he went all the way to Karakura and brought her back all in one day, in a situation like this, it's quite the feat."

"Yeah, when Ichigo sets his mind to it, he can come out of the worst situations." She told her with a small smile. "He's the kind of guy that knows what has to happen, at the moment... he still wants to be him..." Yuriko frowned slightly.

"But he knows that this world can't deal with the weak any more." Tatsuki nodded her head. "I fear that this new world will change a lot of people like that... and even more so... drive the mad even madder."

* * *

"...higo... up...Ichi... wake...Ichigo wake up..." Ichigo's head hung as his body sat upright in a chair, his arms tied behind his back. His eyes were heavy as he started to wake up at the sound of his name being called. He noticed the strong taste of iron in his mouth and opened his mouth slightly only for the large amount of blood and saliva mixed together to fall from his mouth in a thick liquid.

His right eye opened slightly, his left swollen from where the bat that had connected, his left side of his face swollen and bruised. His head swayed to the side as Saeko called to him again.

"Ichigo! Stay with me! Damn it! Ichigo!" Ichigo's head rose and she smiled up at him, she was in the same predicament that he was, tied to a chair but from what he could tell she was unharmed.

"Sae-cough!" More blood flew from his mouth as he started to violently cough making Saeko gasp and struggle against her bindings to try and help him but it was useless. After his coughing fit he hung his head back and let out a large breath which came out as a wheeze making Saeko frown.

"You alright." Ichigo looked back to her with a lopsided grin, teeth bloody.

"I feel like Christmas morning." He chuckled before coughing again making her frown as she watched him recover once again.

"You shouldn't talk so much Ichigo, I think one of your ribs might be cracked, they weren't exactly gentle with you." She told him. "You've been in and out of consciousness for the last couple of hours, I've been trying to get free but so far nothing, they haven't even been back to check on us."

"Who?" Ichigo wheezed out.

"I don't know." She told him before there was a loud banging noise and both looked towards the door before it opened, revealing a large skinny man who had a grin on his face revealing his upper teeth and a sadistic look in his uncovered eye, the other covered in an eye patch, his long black hair hung down over his shoulders. He closed the door behind him before turning back to the two. Ignoring Ichigo for the moment he walked towards Saeko who glared at him.

"Oh a feisty one." He smirked gripping her chin and tilting her head up to look into his face. "I like em like that." He smirked, licking his lips. "I haven't seen a girl like you in a loooong time." He drew out, his eyes looking her over as his hand trailed down from her chin to her neck towards her collar, he went down to take a whiff of her neck before Saeko cut him off.

"Fuck you!" Saeko snapped at him head butting him in the face, sending him back, his nose was bleeding as he held it and she could clearly see blood running down his face. She watched him pull his hand away and get a look at what she had damaged to see his nose pointed in a weird angle.

"You bitch! You broke my fucking nose!" He shouted before his hand went flying across her cheek in a back hand, sending her and her chair flying to the ground.

"AHH!" She screamed, her cheek slightly bruised and a small trail of blood running down her cheek as she looked up at the man glaring down at her.

"Teach you, you fucking slut!" He growled putting his foot to her throat and applying pressure making her eyes go wide and she started to lose the ability to breath. She watched a grin grow across his face as her body started to shake before he removed his foot and she gasped for air as he leaned down and picked her up by the front of her collar and pulled the chair to its upright position. "Now what would be the point in killing you? I wouldn't get my fun then." He laughed at her.

"You bastard leave her alone!" Ichigo roared, suppressing the pain of yelling as he glared at the man who turned to him a grin on his face.

"Oh I think you and your friend mister baseball bat need another lesson." He walked over to the door where the baseball bat lay next to it and picked it up, swinging it in a wide arch before walking over to Ichigo. "What do ya say?" He asked, the wooden bat laying on his shoulder. "Want to get reacquainted?" He questioned again, not even waiting for an answer he gripped the bat with both hands and swung it straight into Ichigo's gut making him yell in pain making the man laugh. Ichigo grunted in pain as he hunched over as far as he could in the chair, his eyes closed tightly as the man pulled the bat back.

"Now shut the fuck up!" He roared gripping Ichigo's hair and pulling his head back. He stared into Ichigo's brown eyes before he saw the smirk come to Ichigo's face.

"That..." He coughed. "That's all you got... my sister hits harder." Ichigo grunted as the man's face collided with his sending Ichigo back, the chair tipping back.

"Ichigo!" Saeko called out before she gasped as the man had thrown the baseball bat back at her, she was able to lower her head to the side as it sailed over her head.

"You mock me you fuck!" The man roared standing over Ichigo, before sending a punch straight to Ichigo's face. "Huh! Who hits hard now! You fucker! Nobody messes with me and gets away with it! I'll fucking kill you!" He roared sending another punch at Ichigo's face before halting and smirking. "You'd like that wouldn't you. To die here easily, well that's not going to happen. I'll kill you but not yet, not until... you've seen me have my fun."

There was a knock on the door making the man's head whipped to the side and stood up, bringing Ichigo up by the collar, his chair coming up with him.

"Now sit here and shut up, you're not going anywhere." He walked over to the door and opened it before exiting. Ichigo looked up to Saeko who had tears running down her cheeks and he frowned as he saw her looking at him with sorrow.

"Hey... what's with that look?" Ichigo asked with a small smile bringing a sob from Saeko as she hung her head. "I'm not going to let him hurt you any more Saeko. I promise." Her head shot up and looked at him with wide eyes to see him smiling at her. "We're going to get out of this, we're going to find the others..." He told her. "We're going to survive this."

"How?" She asked.

"Just trust me." Ichigo told her with a smile and Saeko's eyes went wide as Ichigo pulled a hand from out from behind his back and gave her a small wave, his wrists had cut against the metal wire that had bound his wrists together and he had used the blood as lubricant to slips his hand out. "I've got a plan."


	11. Chapter 11

Saeko watched as the dark haired man came back into the room, his nose now bandaged roughly and the blood gone from his face. She had watched Ichigo untie his own legs from the chair before letting the wires hold against his ankles to look like he was still tied to the chair, before the man had come back into the room with a pissed off expression on his face, baseball bat in hand resting on his shoulder.

If they had, had more time she wouldn't have doubted that Ichigo would have untied her as well. Ichigo glared at the man making him grin before placing the bat under his chin tilting Ichigo's head up with the wooden bat.

"Hmm? Something to say?" The man asked before Ichigo spat in his face making him laugh. "You just don't get it do you!" He roared in laughter wiping the bloody spit from his cheek before sending his fist into Ichigo's face sending his head to the side, more blood flying from his mouth. "The more shit you do to me, the more fun I'm going to have with your little girlfriend here!" He laughed bringing Ichigo's face back around. "So, anything else you want to add."

"Go fuck yourself!" Ichigo growled. The man just laughed and took a step back and held his arms out wide.

"I think I have forgotten my manners." He said before bowing. "How rude of me, I haven't even introduced myself and we have been together for some time already." He laughed. "Nnotoria Gilga at your service." He turned and looked over his shoulder at Saeko. "Me and you, we're going to get to know each other... very intimately." Saeko growled at him, making him smirk. "And I'm going to make your little boyfriend watch, it will be pure torture for him to watch as you scream that you want more, won't it."

"Touch her again and I'll fucking kill you!" Ichigo growled making Nnotoria smirk and look back to the orange haired teen, Ichigo's eyes shot wide open as Nnotoria pulled a knife from his pocket and rose it up to the dim light in the centre of the ceiling as if inspecting the blade.

"You know, I've always wondered what someone in your position would say to live, what they would give up, what they would do." Nnotoria looked back from the light with a sadistic grin. "Shall we find out what you're willing to sacrifice to save your own life?" Saeko's' eyes widened as she saw Nnotoria pull another knife out from his back pocket, Ichigo's eyes still glaring at him.

"NO!" She screamed making Nnotoria look at her. "Don't hurt him any more!" She begged. "Please! He's been through enough!" Nnotoria let the knife in his back pocket slide back down as a grin came to his face.

"Oh so it's you who would offer something for the life of another?" He questioned turning to face her. "What would you give to save the life of your boyfriend."

"Anything just don't hurt him any more." She sobbed, head down, her whole body trembling as her long hair fell around her face.

"No Saeko!" Ichigo shouted before Nnotoria whipped his head around with a devilish smirk on his face.

"Shut up boy!" He growled before turning back and walking towards Saeko, her form trembling as he came closer with each step. "Shh shh shh..." Nnotoria hushed her as he rose a hand to her cheek, she cowered away from his hand. "You said anything right?" He asked as he rose the knife to her cheek, tracing the dull side of it down her cheek and down her neck making her whimper as it came down the collar towards her cleavage. "You aren't going to go back on your word, something might happen to him if you do."

"Anything." Saeko replied through gritted teeth and her eyes flew open as Nnotoria's hand twisted and in a second her shirt was sliced down the middle making her scream out in panic and surprise. Ichigo narrowed his eyes as he gripped the wire in his hands tightly. Saeko hunched over the tattered remains of her shirt hiding her bra exposed chest from view from her sides. Nnotoria laughed as he gripped her hair and pulled her up and looked over to Ichigo.

"How long have you two been going out, you fucked her yet or what?" Nnotoria laughed.

"You're a sick fuck." Ichigo grunted out. "When I get out of here I'll kick your ass."

"That's the thing, you're not getting out." He laughed before turning back to Saeko who was glaring at him. He reached out a hand and cupped her breast, she tried to pull away but couldn't move. "Told you we're going to get intimate." He laughed again. Ichigo narrowed his eyes as he tied the two pieces of wire together behind his back as he glared at Nnotoria's back. He reached down and gripped the two pieces of wire around his ankles before tying the two to the piece behind his back as well.

_"Just hang in there Saeko, just a little longer."_ Ichigo thought as Nnotoria laughed, Saeko struggling underneath his fondling grip. He knelt down before her and gripped the clip between her breasts ready to free them from their confinement, before he saw a wire go down in front of his face making him look at it with a confused glance before it dropped from his gaze.

"Wha-gah!" Ichigo pulled the wire tight around his neck, the already bloody wire cutting into Nnotoria's neck as he tightened it more. Blood starting to flow as Nnotoria struggled lashing out only serving for the wire to cut deeper into his skin, when he had lashed out he had kicked the side of Saeko's chair sending her to the ground with it, making her whimper as she looked up to see Nnotoria struggling underneath Ichigo's grip flailing about.

Nnotoria's hands tried to pull at the wire without any success, her eyes flew wide open as she saw the anger in Ichigo's eyes as he continued to tighten the wire around the bastards neck, it was the same look she had four years ago when she was attacked on the street...

Ichigo grunted as Nnotoria hit his cracked ribs but still held fast before noticing the slight bulge of the knife in Nnotoria's back pocket. He gripped both sides of the wire with his right hand and quickly reached down to grab the hilt of the knife in the pocket with his left hand and swiftly pulled it up and without even thinking drove it upwards into the man's neck making his flailing body jerk a few more times, blood spurting out of the new wound in his neck before going limp underneath the tight grip of the wire.

Ichigo let him fall to the ground before he himself collapsed to his knees, breathing heavily and coughing violently as he crawled over to Saeko and undid the rope around her wrists and ankles. Before Ichigo knew it, Saeko had wrapped her arms around him.

"I'm so sorry." Ichigo told her, not even having the strength to hug her back, resting his head on her shoulder. "I'm so sorry." He repeated.

"It's ok, you did what you had to do." Saeko told him hugging him tighter. "You promised you wouldn't let anything happen to me and you fulfilled that promise." She pulled back and looked into Ichigo's bruised and bloody face. "If it wouldn't hurt you... I'd kiss you right now." She smiled at him. "Come on, there is someone else out there, when they dragged us here, there were only two of them. He was the one who knocked you out..." She said tilting her head at the corpse of Nnotoria. "The other was the one who grabbed me." Ichigo went to push himself up before Saeko placed a hand on his shoulder and shook her head. "Rest up for now Ichigo, I'll deal with this."

"No... Saeko... I'll do it." Ichigo said gripping the knife that Nnotoria had let go in his flailing, not the one still lodged in his neck. "I don't want you to have to do something like this... not until you have to."

"Ichigo you can barely stand, let alone walk." Saeko told him laying her hand over his which was gripping the knife. "This is the time I need to do it." Ichigo looked up into her eyes and saw sorrow there. "I... I... I know what I have to do." She told him. "When... when we get out of here... I want to tell you something about myself Ichigo... something I have never told anyone. Alright?"

"Alright." Ichigo breathed out as Saeko helped him to a wall and leant him against it. She stood up and turned, knife now in her grip before she felt Ichigo's hand on her wrist and she turned back. "Be safe alright..."

"Of course." She smiled. "I have to give you that kiss." She smiled before walking over to the door. She took in a deep breath before looking over at Ichigo who simply sat there, if she didn't know any better she would say he was dead. She turned back to the door and knocked once loudly, letting a large bang surround the room before stepping to the side. The door opened hiding her from view allowing the blonde to walk into the room.

"Nnotoria, what's going on..." He trailed off before he saw, Saeko's titled over empty chair, Ichigo's sitting down at the wall barely conscious and Nnotoria on the ground, knife in his neck. "Oh Shi-!" Saeko's hand wrapped around his neck before she drove the knife into his skull, his body fell from her arms and he landed with a thud on the ground, knife still sticking out of his head. Saeko took a deep breath before looking over to Ichigo who was looking at the blonde now on the ground with his slightly better eye opened as far as it would go in shock.

"Ichigo, I'll be back in a minute, I'll grab our things and we can get out of here." She saw Ichigo idly nod before she walked over to the downed blonde and pulled the knife from his skull and exited the room leaving a surprised and shocked Ichigo. He couldn't help it any longer... he threw up, causing him even more pain.

Saeko walked down the small corridor, knife at the ready encase she had misjudged and there were more people with the bastard that brought them both here. She walked silently and softly stepping over an upturned cupboard as she moved her way to the office door and knelt down and peered through to see that it was empty. She breathed a sigh of relief before walking into the room. She walked over to the boarded up window and her eyes widened as she saw the blue glow of the early morning as she looked out into the street.

_"How long have we been here?"_ She thought before turning away from the window and saw her boken along with Ichigo's own real sword leaned up against a wall. She walked over before noticing a light grey duffle bag on the ground next to the two weapons. _"Must be the supplies the two had. Maybe I can find something for Ichigo, painkillers or bandages."_ She walked over and pulled the bag open and started to search through it. She pulled out a few shirts and pants and a small medical kit and quickly opened it up.

_"Good thing I know how to use some of this stuff since I've bandaged my own injuries in Kendo."_ She thought closing the medical kit back up and picking one of the shirts up and pulled the tattered remains of her own shirt off and pulled the plain black one on.

She sighed before placing the remaining clothes off to the side and searched through the rest of the duffle bag, her hand gripped something metal and her eyes went wide as she pulled out a handgun. She inspected the weapon before pulling out a few clips of ammunition and sighed in relief, at least Nnotoria hadn't used this on Ichigo. She placed it in the band of her underwear underneath her skirt behind her back, pulling her shirt over the handle and placed the medical kit back into the duffel bag.

She heard something behind her and she grabbed her boken, and started to swing only to see Ichigo leaning up against the door breathing heavy, the knife he had thrust into Nnotoria's neck in his grip.

"You... you ok?" He asked her as she dropped her boken as she rushed over to him.

"Ichigo, you shouldn't have moved!" She chided him as she helped him stand before walking him into the room and sat him down at the desk. She walked over to the duffel bag and picked it up before walking back to the desk and placed it before pulling out the medical kit once more and opening it up. "Give me your hands." Ichigo raised his hands up and Saeko frowned at the bloodied cuts that the wire had caused before gripping his right forearm. "I need to clean these alright? It's going to hurt."

"Just... just do it." He breathed out. She pulled the medium sized bottle of alcohol from the medical kit and looked Ichigo in the eyes, he nodded once and she poured the liquid over the cut. He went to scream in pain but Saeko placed a hand over his mouth as to not alert the dead that were lurking outside. His arm jerked in her grip but she held fast. She acted quickly as she wrapped bandages around his right wrist and tying it off after she had ripped the bandage. She lifted his head up and looked into his eyes once more.

"Stay with me Ichigo, I need to clean and bandage the other one, just stay with me." She told him and he nodded slightly holding out his left arm. She repeated the same process as she had with his right arm, covering his mouth to make sure he didn't alert anything or anyone that may be close by, but he didn't even have the strength to scream only to muffle a yelp. As she finished bandaging his wrist she held both hands on her own.

"I need to lift your shirt up Ichigo, I need to see the damage." Ichigo nodded and leaned to the side and Saeko took a breath before pulling his shirt up and gasped as she saw his entire left side purple with bruising. "I need to get you to Shizuka, she will know what to do." She closed the medical kit up and shoved it back into the duffel bag. She grabbed her boken and placed it to the side and walked over to Ichigo's sword and frowned.

She searched around and found a small piece of rope and tied it to the sheath near the guard, then the end piece near the middle of the sheath before flinging it over her back... it was heavier then she had expected. She searched the rest of the small room for anything they could use but didn't find anything worth taking and slung the duffle bag over her back like a backpack, her arms through both handles before picking up her boken. She walked over to Ichigo who was pushing himself up from the table, she snaked one of his arms around her shoulders and looked up at him.

"Come on, we got to get to Takagi's." She saw Ichigo nod as she started to move slowly out of the building.

* * *

Hirano, Karin and Alice stood waiting on the back balcony of the Takagi's mansion, it was around ten o'clock in the morning as the three were watching the back gate for any sign of Saeko or Ichigo.

"Why are we out the back?" Alice asked Hirano.

"I have a feeling they will come the back way if they want to sneak in past all the dead." Hirano told her before Zero, the small white dog started barking happily, wagging his tail. All three heads turned and saw two figures making Karin's eyes light up and a smile spread across her face.

"It's them! Ichigo!" Karin called out with a wave. Hirano smiled as he watched the two off in the distance walk towards the gates as they opened. Alice and Karin were already running down to greet the two. He noticed Ichigo was leaning on Saeko for support and frowned slightly.

"Marikawa-sensei!" Hirano called out rushing into the building and straight into the bubbly woman's room where Rei and Takashi were sitting with the nurse who looked up with a smile.

"Oh, it's nice to have good news that the two of them are back." Shizuka smiled as the two younger girls had rushed past not moments beforehand.

"Bad news, I think Ichigo's hurt." Shizuka looked up with wide eyes. "You should meet him down at the gate." She nodded her head and ran out of the room. "Takashi, we should go help Saeko bring him up."

"Alright, Rei go get the others make sure they know Ichigo and Saeko are back." Takashi said and Rei nodded her head as the three ran out of the room before Rei rushed off while Takashi and Hirano bolted down the staircase and out the back door after Shizuka. The gate was open as Saeko led Ichigo through, Karin and Alice were stopped as Shizuka had told them to stay put as she had run past them. Both Ichigo and Saeko collapsed making her increase her speed, her heels flying off as she rushed forward.

"What's going on?" Karin asked as Takashi and Hirano ran past them.

"Go inside and get a few beds ready." Takashi called back to them making Karin go to object but held her tongue and nodded.

"Come on Alice." Karin said turning and running back with the young girl, too afraid to look back to see what happened to her older brother.

"Takashi, Hirano, help me get them inside." Shizuka said, both boys nodded and went about helping the nurse.


	12. Chapter 12

Ichigo's eyes opened, his right eye still slightly closed but most of the swelling had gone down, now his face was a quarter of purple from the bruising. He groaned slightly as he rolled his head to the side to stare out the large window of the room he was currently occupying.

"You're awake." He rolled his head to the other side to see Shizuka smiling down at him wearing a sleeveless blue turtle-neck. "You gave us quite the scare when Saeko dragged you through the gate." Ichigo went to sit up and Shizuka helped him and he noticed that he was shirtless and his ribs were bandaged. "Nothing too serious, two cracked ribs, four bruised, none broken which is good. It will take some time to heal them."

"I feel like shit." He groaned as Shizuka helped him sit up against the headboard, supporting his lower back and head.

"From what Saeko told us what happened, you're inclined to feel bad." Shizuka told him sitting on the side of the bed as Ichigo was now sitting up. "You guys really had a rough time out there." She picked his wrists up and checked the bandages there and he noticed that they were different ones from what Saeko had banded him with, meaning Shizuka had replaced them.

"Yeah... is Saeko OK?" Shizuka giggled slightly making Ichigo give her a confused look. She pointed over to the wall and Ichigo saw Saeko sleeping in a chair, a small bandage on her cheek, Ichigo remembered how Nnotoria had backhanded her giving her the scratch on her cheek and frowned.

"She hasn't left the room unless it's been important. I'm... I'm a little jealous that even under the circumstances, the two of you were able to get to know one another better." Shizuka said quietly.

"You look like shit." A voice said from the door making Ichigo's eyebrow twitch slightly as he looked towards the door and saw Ishida standing in the entrance of the room.

"Bite me Ishida." He growled back before a small grin came to his face. "Good to see you." Ishida nodded and pushed his glasses up as he walked into the room.

"Must say Ichigo." Ishida said walking over to the bed. "You gave some of us quite the scare."

"Sorry Ishida, I don't swing that way." Ichigo smirked making the glasses wearing teens eye twitch. "I'm sure... there is someone out there willing to give you a shot though."

"Would you grow up!" Ishida growled making Ichigo laugh before wincing and holding his stomach. Shizuka was immediately by his side as Ichigo coughed violently keeping him upright so he didn't cause any more damage to his ribs. Ishida sighed. "Keep yourself under control Ichigo, if you died who would lead us?"

"Damn it Ishida, I'm not the damn leader." Ichigo growled out as he continued to hold his ribs and glare at his friend. "Stop saying things like that!" He snapped.

"I don't know Ichigo, you have done right by us so far." Shizuka smiled making Ichigo groan as he rolled his eyes. "Why wouldn't you want to be our leader?"

"Because so far we don't have the need for one. We make group decisions. It's better then following one person."

"We also need someone to make the decisions no one else will make Ichigo." Ishida told him. "As I said at the river, think on it." Ichigo scowled but nodded nonetheless. "So, what happened." Ichigo sighed and rose a hand up and ran it through his hair and frowned as he pulled his hand back and looked at it.

"Did someone wash my hair?" He asked, making Ishida face palm and Shizuka to giggle.

"Yep!" She told him. "You needed a bath so I took the liberty to give you a sponge bath." Ichigo's eyebrow twitched in annoyance. "Don't worry, I didn't do anything perverted. I'm very professional." She told him with a nod of her head.

"How long have I been out exactly?" He questioned.

"You have been here a day and a half, you were out cold all of yesterday and most of the day when you and Saeko showed up." Ishida told him. "This is the first time you have made a coherent sentence since being here, you and Saeko both were severely dehydrated and running on fumes. You were both lucky to make it here at all if you ask me." Ichigo ran his hand through his hair again and took a moment to realise he had been asleep for over a day.

"Takagi's mother has been kind enough to offer us a place to stay until we figure out what we are doing." Shizuka told him and just as she finished there was a knock on the door. Shizuka jumped from the mattress with glee and walked over to the door and opened it to see Yuriko standing with a small smile on her face, dressed in her red dress. "Oh, Yuriko we were just talking about you."

"All good I hope." Yuriko smiled.

"Of course, we were just telling Ichigo that you were kind enough to lend us your hospitality." Shizuka told her, making her smile as Ichigo saw Ishida fidget slightly making him raise an eyebrow at the archer. Ichigo smirked slightly before he noticed that Yuriko was introducing herself to him.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you Ichigo." She said with a smile. "Your friends have spoken highly of you."

"All bad probably." Ichigo shrugged. "I'm not the most gracious person."

"You're honest." Yuriko smiled. "I admire that in a man. In all honesty I didn't think you would be awake yet. You suffered severe injuries, it's lucky you survived at all."

"He's too stubborn to die." Ishida smirked.

"I won't die until after you ya bastard." Ichigo growled out.

"Now boys, I don't think such matters should be fought over do you?" Yuriko asked, the smile never leaving her face. "It is beneath you to fight over such things, especially in the presence of three women wouldn't you agree?" Both Ichigo and Ishida glanced at one another before both sighed.

"Yes Ma'am." Both mumbled out.

"So Ichigo, going to tell me how you and Saeko got yourselves caught?" Ishida asked again, getting back to his question. "I would have thought you would have at least tried to force your way out."

"A baseball bat to the face usually sends one into unconsciousness Ishida!" Ichigo snapped at him before he sighed and rubbed his forehead, careful of the bruising on his face. Shizuka frowned and walked back to the bed.

"You should get some more rest Ichigo, you're still recovering and if you sleep you will feel better, maybe then we can ask what happened, if you're up to it." Ichigo nodded his head. Ishida gave him a nod before both he and Yuriko headed for the door as Shizuka helped Ichigo slid back down in the bed before taking a seat on the mattress next to him. She idly brushed a few strands away from his face as he looked up at her.

"If we lost you Ichigo, I think we might fall apart." She whispered quietly, just enough to reach Ichigo's ears. "You're friends, possibly even Saeko would probably go off... leaving the others... I don't want us to split up Ichigo... I... I shouldn't say this but when I'm with you all I have fun, even in the current circumstances, I want to keep that... that fun that we have, I don't want to lose it." She said softly before looking back at Ichigo who smiled.

"I ain't going anywhere." He told her as his eyes fluttered closed. She smiled lightly before leaning forward and kissing him on the forehead before pulling the blanket up and around him. She sighed and stood up and walked over to Saeko and grabbed the sheet she had been using which was resting on the ground next to the chair and pulled it over the girl, she fidgeted for a moment before settling back down making Shizuka smile before walking out of the room and closing the door behind her. Tatsuki and Karin were waiting outside the room leaning up against the railing both quiet as Shizuka smiled at them.

"Ichigo... is he..." Karin started.

"He's fine, he just needs some more rest." Shizuka told her with a smile. "He was up and talking but I told him he needed more rest, you two can go in if you want just try and be quiet. "Karin nodded her head and walked into the room while Tatsuki breathed a sigh of relief.

"I was starting to get worried, unconscious for a day and a half, it would have been a bad sign if he stayed out any longer." Tatsuki mused and Shizuka nodded her head.

"You're right." She told her. "I'm impressed you know so much Tatsuki."

"Ah well, Orihime wants to be a doctor... or wanted to be. I would help her study, I just picked up a few things I guess." Tatsuki said sheepishly as she scratched at her cheek.

"Well, maybe I should help her out. It would be a good idea to have more than one person with the ability to make sure everyone is ok." Shizuka suggested and Tatsuki smiled.

"Yeah that sounds like a good idea." Tatsuki smiled and turned to walk down the stairs.

"You're not going in to see him?" Shizuka questioned making Tatsuki stop. "I had the feeling you and Ichigo are close."

"I... I... well I think I should let Karin have some time with him. She was worried the most after all." Tatsuki managed to get out. She heard Shizuka giggle before she rushed down the stairs. Tatsuki reached the bottom step and sighed in relief before going to walk for the front door only for it to open and Takashi and Chad to walk in. "Hey guys."

"Morning." Takashi greeted. "We just heard that the bus and Humvee are on the way back. Yuriko sent a team out to get them for us."

"Really? That's great, that means as soon as Ichigo is ready for travel we can get going again." Takashi nodded in his head in agreement, Chad just gained a thoughtful look. "Is everything alright Chad?" Takashi looked from the dark haired girl up to the large teen standing next to him.

"I was just wondering is all, wouldn't it be better to stay with a larger group like this then go out on our own?" Both Tatsuki and Takashi simply thought on the subject. "I know that it is understandable to leave the larger group to find your families."

"I get where you're going Chad." Takashi said rubbing his chin in thought. "You guys don't have any reason to keep coming with us now." Tatsuki hummed in thought before looking back up the stairs to see Shizuka smile down at them and the bubbly blonde gave them a wave. The three down on the floor gave her a simple wave back.

"We should get everyone together, decide on what we should do as a whole, instead of acting individually. That's how things get out of control." Tatsuki told the other two as she turned back from looking towards the second staircase.

"I would have to agree." Rei said walking down the corridor. "Talking about these things without everyone else could cause trouble. Is Ichigo well enough to speak yet?"

"He is, but Shizuka said he needed more rest." Tatsuki told her. "Tomorrow morning, meet in Ichigo's room and we can discuss what our next plan of action is."

"Alright."

* * *

Ichigo's eyebrow twitched in annoyance, here he was sitting in bed, the only thing covering his chest a couple of bandages and his boxes covering his lower body along with the thin sheet that was draped over his legs... while the whole entire group was in his room... looking at him.

"Go on get it off you're damn chests!" Ichigo growled out. Shizuka covering Alice's ears to stop her from hearing Ichigo's rant.

"You look like shit." Ishida smirked.

"I already know that!" Ichigo growled back at Ishida. "You've told me already!" Ishida simply chuckled.

"Are you even alright to be sitting up like that?" Saya asked. "Seriously it looks like you've been hit by a truck."

"I'm fine, now at least let me put some pants on."

"There is no need for pants Ichigo." Tatsuki sighed. "You're not getting out of bed any time soon."

"Like hell! I'm not staying in bed one more day. Give me crutches if you have too!" He told them. "Shizuka." He said holding out his hand. "Crutches."

"Sorry Ichigo, you need your rest."

"Gah! Won't anyone help me get some pants!"

"Pants can wait." Takashi told him. "We need to figure out what we're going to do."

"Right, whether we stay here... with them, or go out on our own." Saya spoke up. Orihime, Aice and Shizuka's heads shot up in surprise, this was the first they had heard of this. Ishida simply pushed his glasses up, already coming to the same conclusion as Chad, Tatsuki, Rei and Takashi. Karin simply sat quietly at Ichigo's side on the bed watching what was going on Saeko leaning up against the wall listening to what was being said.

"It's a bigger group now." Saeko spoke up. "Your mother Takagi has been kind enough to offer us shelter from out there. Why don't you want to stay here with your parents?" Saya huffed while folding her arms before she turned away.

"You bunch of morons have done more for me then they have in a long time. You're more of a family to me than they ever were." Saya told them, making some of the others smile at her words.

"I knew you liked us Saya!" Shizuka beamed clapping her hands, making the pink haired girl's eye twitch in irritation.

"Anyway, the members of the Takagi estate won't be staying here much longer." Saya continued. "They don't have enough resources here and will go somewhere that will be able to sustain their larger group."

"Leaving the estate... untouched." Ishida mused.

"Indeed." Saya agreed, pushing her own glasses up. "If, we are still together after the larger groups leave and we don't leave with them. This place would be a place well enough to fortify with the amount of people we have. Make that gates so they can't be opened from either side, barricading them so they can't be broken through."

"It's also close enough to our homes so we could go off in daily searches for our parents." Rei said with wide eyes making Saya nod her head.

"And even with a few more people we would be able to sustain ourselves. With smaller groups we would be able to search for supplies, run scouts to find out what is happening out in the city, and send search parties for your families."

"What about other survivors?" Takashi asked. "I know we are searching for our families but what about other people that need help? We could make a difference." He told them.

"Deal with it when it comes to it." Ichigo said his head down, his orange locks covering his eyes. "Just remember... it was a 'survivor' that did this to me and Saeko, not all of them can be trusted. Not all of them should even have the chance to be trusted." He said gripping a handful of the sheets. "In this new world... it's the survival of the fittest... there is now law, no matter how much anyone wants to believe it. We made it out of the school because we were stronger than the rest, we survived the cruel streets because we were stronger then what it threw at us... and we have to keep that strength up to keep surviving through this."


	13. Chapter 13

Ichigo grunted as his bare foot hit the first step of the very large staircase. His left arm holding his still bruised and bandaged ribs. He hadn't been able to lift his arms up so he could get his shirt on so he was unable to fully get dressed but he was able to get a pair of pants on which he thought was better than nothing. His right hand was gripping the railing as he started his way down... painfully slow at that. He gritted his teeth every step since it caused his ribs unbearable amounts of pain but pushed on.

"Tch, everyone said 'oh you should stay in bed, you're wounded'." He growled out with a mock voice. "If I stayed in that room any longer I'd kill myself."

"That's if I don't kill you first." Tatsuki's irritated voice said from atop the stairs.

"Yeah shut up Tatsuki, I'm doing this and you can't stop me. I'm almost half way anyway." Ichigo replied not even looking up to face the very irritated girl. He heard her footsteps come down after him and sighed.

"At least let me give you a hand." She told him placing a hand on his shoulder.

"I've got this Tatsuki!" Ichigo growled out shrugging her hand off his shoulder. "It's like you're all babying me! So I got beat up, so what? It's not that big a deal! Plenty of times this has happened before, you didn't act like this then so why bother acting like this now!"

"Because you could have died!" Tatsuki yelled at him. "I thought I lost you when you left that morning and now this... do you have any idea how worried we were when you went off on your own with Saeko only to see you come back in this state! You're such a jerk Ichigo!" She yelled at him turning and running back up the stairs.

"Damn it! Tatsuki wait!" Ichigo shouted after her turning and going to take a step up before his ribs flared at the sudden movement and he groaned holding them. "I so, did not think this through." He groaned out, hunched over breathing heavily.

"No you didn't." Ishida said from the step below him. "How are you going to get back up stairs?"

"No idea." Ichigo groaned out. "Maybe Chad can give me a lift."

"He's busy, he went with Hirano to check on the vehicles. Who knows when he's going to be back." Ishida told him as he started to walk up the stairs. "Have fun."

"Dick." Ichigo groaned as he turned back to head down the stairs and once again started his slow descent. "Oi Ishida!" Ichigo called out looking over his shoulder and back up the stairs, making the glasses wearing teen stop at the top step and look down at him. "Go check on Tatsuki for me will you."

"I was on my way to do just that, if you were able to get up these steps without trouble I'd make you do it yourself." Ichigo gritted his teeth as Ishida pushed his glasses up. "You should really be more understanding of her feelings Ichigo."

"Feelings?" Ichigo questioned. "What feelings?"

"You're such a moron." Ishida told him before walking off making Ichigo grit his teeth.

"Oh I'm Ishida and I'm a big know at all!" Ichigo growled out as he made his way down the steps. "I wear glasses and I'm so smart!" He finally reached the bottom step. "I think I know what everyone's thinking and everything!" He stepped back onto the floor and breathed a sigh of relief. "Ishida's log, now complete." He smirked to himself. "Was that a win for us Ichigo, I think it was other Ichigo."

"You're talking to yourself now?" Saya asked walking out of one of the many rooms of the mansion and gave him a look. "You really have gone insane." She sighed.

"Do you have a problem with me or something?" Ichigo questioned, slightly embarrassed he had been caught talking to himself. Saya huffed before walking towards a door and opened it, Ichigo realising it was a closet. She reached in and Ichigo heard her mutter something before a crash and she pulled out two metal crutches.

"Here." She said walking over to him. "I twisted my ankle last year and had to walk around on these for a couple of weeks. Just adjust them and they should work fine. It will help you get around easier at least."

"Ah... thanks?" Ichigo said taking the offered crutches.

"It would be an eyesore to see you walking around hunched over and all weak looking." Saya told him, making his eye twitch. "Hopefully without you hunching over all the time your ribs can heal quicker." She continued as she watched him adjust the crutches to his size before he hoisted them under his arms. "Better?"

"A little." Ichigo told her. "Thanks." She nodded her head and walked beside him towards the main door. She opened it and got a thankful nod from the orange haired teen before both walked out and Ichigo's jaw dropped at the sight of the large estate.

"This place is massive!" Ichigo said in awe as he looked around. "You guys must be loaded."

"Big help that does us now." Saya mumbled. "Money means nothing in this world anymore." Ichigo nodded his head in agreement. "Look." Ichigo eyes darted to her to see her looking at him, a serious expression on her face. "You're not the smartest person." Ichigo's eyebrow twitched in annoyance once more. "Neither are you the most resourceful, quietest, easy to get along with... and probably a lot of other things..."

"Yeah, it's going to look like I'm walking away... that's because I am." Ichigo told her before turning and starting to walk away with his crutches.

"You didn't let me finish you moron!" Saya snapped grabbing his arm. "Geeze let me finish."

"What, let you finish insulting me?" Ichigo questioned before Saya punched him in the arm. "Hey!"

"What I was going to say was that I can help you." She huffed out making Ichigo raise an eyebrow making her sigh. "Look, we didn't get out to the best start."

"Yeah..."

"But I'm offering my help. Most of our group won't know what to do in situations like the one we're in now." Saya told him.

"Situation?" Ichigo questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"The larger group." She reminded him and Ichigo nodded in understanding. "So they are probably going to look to you for answers." Ichigo sighed. "Because you're basically our lead-"

"No! Don't say it! Don't you even think about saying it. I'm not, we don't need one yet and I'm definitely not it!" Ichigo growled cutting her off.

"Stop acting like a damn child! You're basically our leader, so they're going to come to you for answers. Deal with it." Ichigo slumped over. "I gave you the crutches so you would stop doing that!" Ichigo sighed in annoyance before straightening back up. "In all honesty Ichigo." Saya said seriously. "I don't think we should be absorbed by the bigger group." Ichigo sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"Not simply out of spite of my parent's either, we would once again be treated like kids, we have gone through just as much as they have if not more. Our suggestions should be taken in, I've already seen Komuro get shot down earlier today when he tried to help out." Saya leaned back on the large stone crafted railing and looked Ichigo in the eyes. "What do you think, not thinking of anyone else, not of your sister or your friends, what do you think we should do?"

"In all honesty?" Ichigo questioned and got a quick nod from the pink haired girl. "I agree with you." He said seriously. "You're right, we have lived through more than what they have, previous experience doesn't make up from what has happened in the last few days. So they have lived longer, had a job, gone through more experiences..." He shook his head. "Being and adult or a child now doesn't mean anything."

"Right."

"But that's not it..." Ichigo said stopping Saya from continuing. "A large group like this... although heavy in force... it would be constantly attacked, they would generate too much noise. Everyday there would be attacks of 'them', guns will only go so far, Ishida had it right in grabbing a bow, he can just make new ammunition for it. Bullets in time will become scarce and then what?" He shook his head once more. "If it comes down to a vote, I wouldn't put my bets on staying with the larger group."

"Huh, you're smarter than you look." Saya smirked at him. "Not only that, but the supplies for a large group would be hard to come by. Soon enough, fights would break out within the group, factions would be made and eventually the group would tear itself apart." Ichigo nodded in agreement. "I'm glad we see the same way."

"Well, I guess that's one thing." Ichigo chuckled. "I'm going to have a look around, staring out the same window for too long was driving me insane..."

"Do I have to remind you of you talking to yourself?" Saya asked with a cocked eyebrow and a slight smirk coming to her face.

"I'd rather you keep that to yourself." Ichigo chuckled nervously making her smirk at him.

"Hmph, I'll think about it." She said turning away and beginning to walk away before stopping, turned back and walked back towards him. "I almost forgot." She reached into the small satchel at her side and Ichigo's eyes went wide as she pulled out a gun and held it out to him. "Saeko told me to give you this."

"Saeko?" Saya nodded her head.

"She said she found it when she was getting medical equipment for you, found it in a bag." She reached back into her pouch and pulled out the magazines that Saeko had pulled from Nnotoria's duffel bag. "She said since you, at your current time, can't use a sword you should still be armed." Ichigo looked over the gun making Saya sigh, as she saw him holding the barrel between his finger tips.

"It's not going to bite you! Hold it properly." She snapped at him.

"Hey! I'll do it my way, when I'm ready." Ichigo told her. "I wouldn't even know how to shoot this thing."

"What's so hard? Aim and shoot."

"That's the hard thing, the aiming and the shooting part." Ichigo dead panned. He sighed before pulling the magazine that was already in it out and saw that it was full of bullets.

"Pass it here." Saya told him taking the gun and move the top half of the barrel forward making the bullet in the chamber fly out. Ichigo reached out and caught it before raising and eyebrow at her. "Hirano's been teaching me a few things here and there. He said it's a 9mm single-action semi-automatic handgun... or something." She shrugged. "Saeko told me it's yours to keep. She doesn't want it." She told him handing the gun back to him which he took.

He glanced over the weapon once and the bullet in his other hand. He never really thought he would ever hold a gun in his life. He slipped the gun into the back of his pants and placed the bullet into his pocket before taking the other magazine's of bullets from Saya and placing them in his pockets as well.

"I guess I should thank Saeko when I see her next." Ichigo mumbled. "Well, I'll guess I'll see you around Saya." Ichigo said turning and starting to hobble off on his crutches.

"It's Takagi to you!" She shouted at him.

"Yeah sure it is." Ichigo waved back.

"Idiot." He mumbled walking back into the house. She stopped at the door and looked at Ichigo walking down the centre of the yard and smiled lightly to herself. _"Shizuka was right, he's not all that bad to get along with."_

* * *

Ichigo walked, or well hobbled along on his crutches, getting strange glances from a view of the residents at the Takagi estate that only served to piss him off. His scowl increased as his walk across the large estate continued, everyone just gave him a strange look as he walked past making him glare at most of them. So he was on crutches so what! It's not like he was dying or anything!

"Ichigo." Ichigo's head whipped to the side and his eyes went wide as he saw Karin standing there, straight in the path he had been walking. He had walked straight past her and hadn't even noticed. "I didn't know you were up and about."

"Yeah, Saya gave me these." He said gesturing to the crutches. "Figured I should try them out."

"Shizuka has no idea does she?" She asked with a knowing smirk.

"Not a one." He smirked back at her. "What are you doing way out here anyway?"

"Trying to find something to do." She sighed walking up next to him, him having placed both crutches under his left arm so he could walk normally for a bit. "Looked all over this place for a soccer ball or anything that would resemble one and didn't find a single thing. Saya is really a girly girl." Ichigo chuckled as he placed a hand on her head and ruffled her hair. "How are you? I heard what happened on the staircase."

"Geeze, is that getting around already?" Ichigo questioned. "I bet it's that bastards Ishida's fault, can't keep his damn mouth shut." Karin chuckled lightly as she reached up and held Ichigo's hand as they walked.

"I see Saya gave you the gun, Saeko wanted to give you." She said gesturing to the 9mm in the back of his pants.

"Yeah." Ichigo sighed. "I guess you can teach me a thing or two about aiming, Hirano has been showing you how to right?"

"Yeah, he's been really helpful. He's a big nerd when it comes to guns and stuff." Karin told him. "Maybe you should talk to him about it, I'm sure you would get better if you learnt from someone like him."

"In all honesty Karin, I don't want to shoot." Ichigo told her. "If I'm going to use it I want it to be a last resort at best. I don't want to rely on it that much, soon enough ammo for all guns will become scarce. Try not to rely on it that much Karin, one day you won't have it any more."

"Yeah, I think I understand... hey Ichigo." Ichigo looked down at her. "Are we really going to leave the bigger group?" Ichigo stopped walking and stared off into the distance. "Ichigo?"

"What do you think we should do Karin?" Ichigo asked softly. "Be honest." He said again looking down at her.

"Well... wouldn't it be safer with more people?" She asked. "More people to fight against 'them'." Ichigo sat down on a bench that was nearby, Karin walking over to it and sat down next to him.

"It's true that there are safety in numbers Karin, but there is also danger." He told her, making her look up at him with a confused expression. "In a large group, supplies to feed and support everyone would be hard to come by, arguments would happen often, morale would drop even more often and not all people would be treated equally." He explained to her. "Sooner or later, the group would divide into fractions, rally against one another, those who once fought side by side would be at each other's throats." He sighed.

"So there would be more danger then to what's already lurking out there?" Karin said and got a nod from her older brother.

"It's already starting to happen according to Saya, Takashi was told to stay out of the way after he tried to help. We would be treated like kids and our ideas wouldn't mean squat." he sighed in annoyance. "I'd like to stay with the larger group but the way things are going... we're going to let them leave. We would probably remain here like Saya suggested, fortify the grounds so there is only one entrance. Make something of a home here for ourselves. Until... until... well until we know what to do. In all honesty after Takashi and Rei find their parents. I don't know what our plan will be. Will it just be to sit here, wait for this to all come to an end or something else." He sighed.

"Hey." Karin smiled resting a hand on his shoulder. "You'll get us through it Ichigo. If anyone can do it, you can."

"Oh please, don't start talking like that Karin! I thought you would be on my side!" He yelled at her making her giggle. "Traitor!"

"If anyone should lead us Ichigo, it should be you. I've already seen how you've acted with the others. They all look up to you. You're doing great so far and you don't even know it." Ichigo sighed before smiling.

"Maybe you're right." He told her. "That doesn't mean I'm going to let Ishida think I'm going along with his plan. I'm going to make it as hard as hell for him to even think about putting me up for command!"

"You and Ishida never really got along did you?" Karin dead panned as she saw determination in her brothers eyes to defy his friend at all costs. She chuckled lightly before speaking again. "Come on, let's get you back to your room before Shizuka notices and realises that you have gone out against her order. Remember how Dad used to get..." She trailed off before Ichigo wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

"I bet the old man's fine." He said softly. "I would try and ring him but he never gave me his number, said it was uncool for a son to have a parents number in his phone." Ichigo sighed. "I'm sure he will call and..." He said softly. "If the worst has come to pass... let's just hope he's not one of them." Karin nodded her head, as Ichigo's arm tightened around her. "We will get through this Karin." He said softly once more and she nodded again before both stood and started to walk back to the mansion. Karin helped Ichigo up the stairs, even with crutches it was still difficult for him to get up them. Both stopped dead after they walked into Ichigo's room as they were met with a pissed off Shizuka.

"Bed! Now!" Shizuka said continuing to glare at him. Ichigo sighed before she pointed at the bed and he groaned.

"Come on Shizuka, I'm feeling great." Ichigo told her before Shizuka poked him in the ribs making him hunch over and fall to his knees.

"Not good enough." She scolded him. "What if something had happened and you couldn't have gotten back to the house. Now get in bed!" Ichigo groaned again but reluctantly crouched over to the bed and sat down with a sigh. "See now you're exhausted."

"Better than sitting in a room doing nothing." Ichigo defended. "By the way..." He trailed off as he glanced over everyone that was sitting in his room. "Why is everyone in here?" Everyone just sighed.

"Did you forget Ichigo?" Chad asked. "We said we would decide on what we would do today." Ichigo thought for a moment before nodding his head.

"We would have done it earlier but you weren't here." Shizuka huffed at him.

"Firstly..." Ishida said. "You need to take up your mantle Ichigo." He told him, making Ichigo glare at his friend.

"I want a vote." He pouted.

"A vote?" Rei asked.

"It's a vote or I'll never accept!" He declared making Ishida reach into his back pocket. "Why do you have slips of paper?"

"I thought this might happen. It will also come in handy when we decide on what we were going to do about our plans."

"Good thinking." Saya said taking a piece of paper and walking over to a desk and grabbing a small case which was filled with pencils. She handed them out as Ishida gave everyone a slip of paper. Ichigo's eyebrow twitched as he stared at the blank piece in front of him. His eyes softened as he felt a tug on his arm and looked down to see Alice smiling up at him.

"Hey Ichigo, how do you spell your name?" She asked and Ichigo got a devilish idea.

"Well, I..." The rest simply gave Ishida there slips of paper before he walked over to Ichigo and Alice and eyed Ichigo who was grinning from ear to ear. Ishida held out his hand and both handed there slips over.

"Shizuka, would you like to do the honours?" Ishida asked and the blonde woman nodded her head before taking the slips and going through them, keeping any idea of what she was reading out of her face. She would have been a damn hell of a poker player.

"Ok!" She cheered with a smile. "We have two candidates!"

"We do?" Everyone asked, all but Ichigo who was still grinning. "With eleven votes! Ichigo!" Ichigo's eyes flew wide open. "And with two votes... oh are we counting times how many?" She asked as she tilted her head to the side making everyone facepalm.

"No." Ishida told her.

"Oh well, only two votes for Ishida then, without the times a hundred." She giggled.

"What did you do?" Ishida asked Ichigo who was scratching the back of his head sheepishly. Ishida looked over the slips of paper and saw the two with his name on it one with times a hundred next to his name, clearly in Alice's handwriting.

"You tried to get Alice to vote for me?"

"I thought you asked Ichigo how to spell his name?" Tatsuki questioned before turning to Ichigo. "You didn't."

"I want a recount!" Ichigo shouted.

"Twelve votes Ichigo, you're the leader." Ichigo slumped over in defeat.

"You're mean Ichigo." Alice pouted as Ichigo placed a hand on her head.

"It's ok Alice, I didn't think it would work anyway." He told her. "So what now?"

"Whether we stay or be absorbed." Saya said. "Thoughts?" She asked everyone. "I myself believe we should break away and build this place into a suitable place to stay."

"Not go with your own parents?" Saeko asked slightly surprised. "You would leave them just to stay with us?"

"I would." She told her. "That a problem?"

"No, just a surprise is all." Saeko told her honestly. "I would rather break away from the larger group as well. There are several reasons as to why. It would be no safer going with a larger group then it would be with a smaller group out there on the streets. I vote for splitting."

"There is no definite answer that we would receive help from the others." Takashi said as he looked to Rei who nodded. "We want to stay here."

"We from Karakura have talked it over." Ishida said.

"Bullshit." Ichigo scoffed. "When was this?" He asked.

"We didn't include you." Tatsuki told him.

"What!? Why not!" Ichigo roared. "Shouldn't... oh I don't know... be involved in a conversation such as that!"

"If you were here in your room when you were supposed to we would have!" Tatsuki snapped back at him making him sigh, maybe his little adventure around the estate hadn't been worth it as he had thought.

"We would rather stay in a smaller group." Ishida continued. "The group we have now is suitable."

"I want to stay with all of you." Shizuka smiled clapping her hands. "Plus you would need a doctor now wouldn't you?" She teased as she poked her tongue out at Ichigo.

"Being out here on our own would be thought." Hirano said rubbing his chin in thought. "But also being in a larger group would be tougher. I agree with the smaller group. Plus, it's been fun so far."

"What about you Alice?" Shizuka asked. "Do you want to stay with our little group?" Alice nodded her head quickly.

"Uh huh! I don't want to leave you guys." She told them making the others smile, leaving Ichigo and Karin the only two who hadn't answered in the voting. Karin looked up to Ichigo and nodded, making him smile lightly.

"I guess we're staying here when your family decides to leave Saya."

"I told you it's Takagi to you!" She shouted at him getting a few chuckles from the others before the sound of several vehicles reached their ears making them look to one another. Ichigo pulled himself out of bed much to Shizuka's surprise at how well he had managed to do it without even gritting or wincing in pain before he pulled himself onto his crutches and followed the others to the large balcony that his room had.

"That's..." Hirano trailed off as he saw a large man step out of a car.

"Yes." Saya agreed with Hirano's unfinished statement. "He's the former Lord of Tokonosu, the head of the Takagi family, the man who judges everything by his rules. My Father."


	14. Chapter 14

All of them stared wide eyed as they stared down into the courtyard where they had just watched Saya's father behead one of his own men that had been bitten and turned, in a show of what needed to be done to survive in this new world. When he had walked away from the scene all of the group watching on the balcony heard Hirano scoff next to them.

"Hey Hirano are you ok?" Takashi asked. "You don't look like you're doing so well over there."

"Tch, swords are incredibly inefficient." Hirano said quietly.

"What?" Takashi asked not knowing where this was going.

"You want to run that by me again." Ichigo said narrowing his eyes at the gun nut.

"I said they were inefficient!" Hirano roared at them. "A Japanese sword can break if it hits bone, it's useless after slicing three or four people." He told them, swinging his arm out, not knowing of the rage in Ichigo's eyes.

"You can't say that for sure Hirano." Saeko said. "Even in the way of the sword, numbers determine your strength. The swordsman's technique, the quality of his sword, his mental strength. If these three elements are at high levels, you won't lose your fighting strength, no matter how many people you have to fight against."

"But once the sword has blood on it then it's impossible too..." Hirano said before Takashi cut him off.

"Hirano, man that's enough." Takashi said placing a hand on the teens shoulders noticing how agitated Ichigo was getting at Hirano's disrespect of sword play.

"Don't touch me!" Hirano snapped shrugging his shoulder to get Takashi's hand off him. "And don't interrupt me! You can't even shoot a gun properly!" He growled making Takashi take a step back at the attitude his new friend was showing.

"Hirano you need to back off!" Saya yelled at him before they all heard a clatter and everyone's head turned to Ichigo who had dropped his crutches, which were now lying on the ground at his feet, his head down with his hair covering his eyes.

"You say swords are inefficient?" Ichigo questioned his head lifting up and they could see the cold dead look in his eyes as he glared at Hirano, who took a step back in fright, only to back into the railing of the balcony. "Shizuka, take Alice and Karin inside."

"What?" Karin asked. "I thought you said I could make decisions on my own now." She said, Ichigo glanced at her and nodded his head.

"Shizuka, take Alice inside. She doesn't need to hear this." He said and the blonde woman frowned but nodded her head and took Alice by the hand.

"Come on, let's go get you and Zero something to eat alright?" Shizuka said, Alice looked over everyone else and nodded her head before both walked inside. Hirano simply kept his eyes on Ichigo as he glared at him. He felt severely unsafe now that he didn't have his guns on him.

"Let me ask you a question Hirano." Ichigo said. "If swords are inefficient, then I'm guessing you are saying guns are more so?" He questioned but didn't get a response. "I asked you a damn question!" He snapped making Hirano squeak.

"Y-Yes!" His eyes shot wide open as Ichigo made a lightning quick movement, even with his bandaged bruised ribs, Hirano was now looking down the barrel of Ichigo's 9mm, the same one Saya had handed him earlier out on the grounds below them.

"Ichigo!" Everyone shouted at him but Ichigo didn't even look in their direction, his sole focus was on Hirano. The only two who didn't shout out were Saya and Saeko. Both for entirely different reasons. Hirano was visibly shaking as he stared down the barrel of the gun and into Ichigo's hard eyes that showed no emotion whatsoever. If Hirano would have to compare it to anything he would have to say he looked like a killer from a TV show or Movie.

"What makes this even more efficient than a sword Hirano?" Ichigo questioned gesturing to the gun he was holding. "Is it the speed behind the bullet? The power that pushed the bullet out sending it at killing speeds?" Hirano just stood there shaking as Ichigo continued to speak. "Go on, what makes this more efficient of killing 'them' then a sword does? Zangetsu is still in top shape, I couldn't even count how many I killed before I got knocked out the other day and it doesn't have a damn dent in it's blade." He narrowed his eyes even more. "So tell me how a gun tops that."

"I... it... ah..." Ichigo pushed the gun forward to Hirano's forehead making him gulp.

"It doesn't does it." Ichigo continued. "You know what I think? I think that since you know all about guns, you think you know everything else about weapons. I don't know shit about guns and I don't care. Because in my books they're inefficient. But unlike you. I actually have a reason. You want to know why?" Hirano just nodded once before a resounding click made everyone gasp as Ichigo pulled the trigger. "Because once you're out of bullets. You're dead." He said lowering the gun and placing it in the back of his pants. "That's why guns are inefficient. Don't try and start an argument that you can't back up."

"But..." Hirano said shakily.

"No." Ichigo said coldly cutting him off. "What happens when there are no bullets left. When they have all been used up. None are going to get made any more. What we have now is what we got." Ichigo's glare hardened once more. "So when the ammo finally runs out, and if you don't pick up a weapon and fight..." He shook his head. "You'd be nothing but dead weight." Eyes went wide at that.

"What the hell is wrong with you!" Ishida snapped grabbing Ichigo by the shoulder and swinging him around before sending his fist straight into Ichigo's face sending the orange haired teen to the ground. While the entire commotion was going on Chad placed a hand on Hirano's shoulder, the still shaking teen looked up at him.

"Go, get yourself cleaned up before anyone notices." Chad told him, making Hirano look down to see the large wet spot from where he had wet himself just moments before hand. Hirano nodded his head in thanks, not able to trust his voice and ran off towards the nearest bathroom.

"What is your problem?" Saeko asked looking up at Ishida from where she was kneeling next to Ichigo who was holding his nose, blood clearly present.

"Don't." Ichigo told her. "I knew what I was doing." He said pushing himself up from the ground, his ribs flaring in pain as he did so. He pulled his hand away from his nose to show the blood that had now stopped flowing, he wiped away the excess blood with the back of his hand before he simply picked his crutches up, once again ignoring the pain in his ribs and walked back into the room before picking Zangetsu up and leaving the room, leaving everyone on the balcony quite shocked at what had happened in the last few moments.

"Ichigo didn't do anything wrong." Saya said surprising everyone as they all looked at her with wide eyes. "He's right." She continued.

"Saya, how can you say that!" Takashi shouted at her.

"Tell me what's wrong about it then!" Saya snapped back at him. "Ichigo's not thinking about just now. Guns will become scarce the more we use them. We shouldn't rely on them to get us through every day. The only person here with gun experience is Hirano. If something happens to him, we wouldn't know how to care for a gun properly. What if it jams what do we do then?" She shook her head. "I will admit Ichigo went about doing it the wrong way but he got his point across didn't he?"

"Will Hirano see that though?" Karin asked, still a little shaken from how she had seen her brother just act. "Or should we explain it to him?" She questioned once more.

"If we explained it, Hirano wouldn't have learnt anything." Rei said softly. "I agree with Saya, Ichigo went about doing it the wrong way but he did get his point across. Hirano has to see that."

"I should probably feel bad about hitting him." Ishida sighed, rubbing his now bruising knuckles. "But I really don't."

"That's because he has been asking for it." Tatsuki huffed, the slightest twitch of a smile at her lips. "You probably enjoyed it more then you should have."

"Probably."

"Why is everyone fighting?" Orihime said softly. "We were getting along so well but now... everyone is fighting with one another..." She continued wiping away stray tears that were threatening to fall. "What changed?" She questioned.

"This world Orihime." Tatsuki said softly wrapping her friend in a hug. "This world is changing, and we have to as well." Orihime wrapped her arms around Tatsuki and rested her head on her shoulder.

"I don't want us to change Tatsuki." She whispered.

* * *

Ichigo grunted as he sat down underneath the shade of a large tree, laying Zangetsu across his lap as he massaged his aching ribs. Even in this now god forsaken world, Ichigo could still enjoy the pleasures of a light breeze underneath a tree with no one disturbing him. He placed both hands on his knees and closed his eyes before steadying his breathing.

"That's a fine form." A voice said making Ichigo's eyebrow twitch. "And a magnificent blade."

"It will be in your gut if you don't leave me alone!" Ichigo snapped not opening his eyes to address the man who had spoken to him.

"Is that how you address the man who is giving you a roof over your head?" The voice questioned making Ichigo crack an eye only to stare at the illuming figure of Takagi's father. Ichigo's eyebrow twitched at his own stupidity, he should really think before he speaks.

"Well, I'd say the same thing to my old man." Ichigo told him, closing his eyes once more. "So yeah, that's how I address the man giving me a roof over my head." Just because he should think before he speaks... doesn't mean he would start now. Ichigo's eyes opened again when he heard the man laughing.

"Oh it has been a long time since someone other than my wife has spoken to me like that. Boy, let me ask you. Do you know who I am?" He asked.

"Former Lord of Tokonosu or something right? Saya mentioned it earlier." Ichigo shrugged, not really caring.

"So even though you know who I am, you still treat me as someone else. I find you an amusing boy." He laughed once more.

"Names Ichigo not boy. Ichigo Kurosaki." He told him.

"Souichiro Takagi." The man greeted in return sitting in front of him, in a similar position except his sword was laying by his side. "So you came here with my daughter?"

"Sought of." Ichigo told him. "We were separated before we got here. We left the school together though. She and the others arrived here a day before us."

"Ah, you were the one who was injured. Hence the bandages. My wife spoke of you. May I ask how you received those injuries?" Ichigo sighed but nodded his head.

"We were attacked by another survivor. They caught us off guard and held us captive." Ichigo said clenching his hand. "Both Saeko and myself dealt with them. We got here, barely."

"You are strong to make it here in such a state." Souichiro said. "Only the strong, will survive through this. I see you already know this."

"I know what has to be done." Ichigo told him and he nodded his head as both stared at one another.

"May I?" He asked, gesturing to Zangetsu. Ichigo nodded and passed it over to him making his eyes go wide. "This is... the Zangetsu blade..." He said in awe.

"You know of it?" Ichigo asked slightly surprised as Souichiro nodded his head and drew a small portion of the blade to show it.

"Just as the legend says... black as the night." Souichiro said softly. "You know the legend correct?"

"Yes." Ichigo told him.

"Said to be once in the hands of the great warrior Tensa Zangetsu." Souichiro started as he continued to draw the blade from its sheath. "For decades the warrior fought against demons of the night and other worlds, alone in his solitude he became cold and dark." Ichigo nodded his head in agreement. "On one of these darkest times, Tensa Zangetsu split himself into two, his darkness and his light. It was said that the two battled for even longer than anyone could comprehend. When the final battle struck, Tensa Zangetsu was able to slay his darkness and pierced the blackest of hearts. His own blade absorbing the darkness turning it black, just as dark as the heart it had pierced."

"How is it that you know the legend?" Ichigo asked as Souichiro continued to stare at the sword.

"My mentor, he taught me of ancient blades. He was very fond of the story surrounding this one." Souichiro told him. "How is it that you became to possess such a rare sword?"

"It's been passed down in my family." Ichigo told him. "When I hit fifteen my old man showed it to me, told me that it was mine. He didn't want to wait until he was gone to pass it on so he let me have it."

"You are very fortunate then." Souichiro told him, sheathing the blade and handing it back to Ichigo. "I was glad I was able to see a well crafted blade such as this one." Ichigo placed Zangetsu back on his lap. "I heard from Yuriko that you have been nominated the leader of your group you are with."

"Yeah..." Ichigo trailed off.

"I do not know much about you Ichigo Kurosaki, but it seems that they are in very capable hands. I'm glad that my daughter has found a strong leader to follow." Ichigo looked up at him and sighed.

"Look, I think you should know our plans." Ichigo said. "We do-" His words were cut off as shouts came from the side. Both looked to see a large group of men surrounding something in a small circle, all shouting downwards. Ichigo physically felt Souichiro stiffen and heard him grunt in annoyance as he stood up. Ichigo following, albeit slowly as no not cause him a lot of pain. When they reached the group Ichigo saw that Hirano was on the ground holding all the guns from Shizuka's friends locker as the men around him tried to take them from him.

"What the hell is all this!?" Souichiro shouted as he walked up to the group of people surrounding Hirano.

"Master! He's just a kid sir, he doesn't have any business with these guns." One of the men shouted out.

"I'm Souichiro Takagi, former lord of Tokonosu, what is your name young man?" Souichiro questioned as he stood before Hirano and stared down at the teen in front of him who was wide eyed as he stared up at the illuming figure of Saya's father.

"K-K-Kohta Hirano, I go to Fujimi academy, I'm in class 2b roster number 32!" Hirano cried out clutching the guns to his chest.

"Something tells me you have spirit, I'm quite sure you went through a lot before you made it all the way here. I take it you don't intend to hand over your weapons." Souihciro said with slightly narrowed eyes.

"No sir! I don't want to! Without the gun I'll go right back... to the way I was before! They will make fun of me again! I don't want to go back there! I finally found out what I can do!" Hirano cried out, tears running down his cheeks.

"What exactly can you do? Tell me!" Souichiro ordered making Hirano stutter in fear of the man.

"Well I... Well I can... I can... I..."

"He's been protecting your daughter alongside myself and other members of our group." Ichigo said walking up beside Souichiro before walking towards Hirano who stared up at him, tears still streaming down his cheeks.

"Ichigo..." He whispered out.

"It's true Sir." Takashi said, walking up. "He's been protecting your daughter with these guns. We all have, we work together."

"Komuro." Hirano whispered out. "Thank you... thank you both."

"Komuro? Interesting. Yes I know that name, you have been friends with my daughter since she was little, am I correct?" Souichiro asked.

"Yes sir." Takashi nodded in agreement. "Hirano has been the one to show us all how to use these guns. He keeps the guns."

"Kouta!" Alice cried as she ran over with a barking Zero.

"I'll have you know I've seen his bravery with my own eyes." Saeko said walking over as well.

"Me too Daddy." Saya said walking over with Saeko. "He's just a loser military nerd, but without him I would have been one of those zombies by now Daddy. That's right, he's the one that's been protecting me! He did your job!" The others of the group walked over and stood behind Takashi and Ichigo supporting them.

"I see." Souichiro said. "Very well then. You can keep the guns, my men will no longer bother you."

"But!" A man started but a glare from Souichiro stopped the man in his tracks and he just nodded his head as Souichiro turned and walked away.

"You alright?" Ichigo asked kneeling down next to Hirano who nodded his head eagerly. "You did a good job keeping the guns away from them, I might have said that there insufficient, but that doesn't mean we don't need them in the times to come."

"Yeah." Hirano smiled. "Sorry about earlier."

"Don't worry about it, I should be the one apologising, I did shove a gun in your face." Ichigo replied awkwardly but Hirano shook his head.

"It's fine, you were trying to explain something which I hadn't come to terms with yet. Thank you Ichigo."


	15. Chapter 15

"Gah, where the hell did this rain come from?" Ichigo growled as the three of them walked across the grounds of the Takagi estate, trying to stay away from the large puddles on the ground, Saya the only one with an umbrella as Tatsuki walked beside him with the crossbow that was in Shizuka's friends weapons locker, over her shoulder. "I hate the rain."

"I know." Tatsuki sighed. "You have said it at least fifteen times in the last ten minutes." She growled out. "We get it, you hate the rain."

"Why didn't you grab us an umbrella as well!" Ichigo snapped at Saya who was marching ahead, clearly protected from the rain. "Hey! I'm talking to you!"

"Don't care." Saya huffed as she led them towards the large tents where the survivors had set up their own living space. "Come on, let's get through with this." Ichigo sighed but nodded as both Tatsuki and Ichigo walked in after her.

"What do you want?" A woman in a purple coloured shirt asked standing up from where she had been seated. Ichigo shook his head, his hair flying about water going everywhere. "Hey! You're getting water everywhere!" The woman shouted at him.

"God Ichigo, can you be any more like a dog?" Tatsuki asked.

"I could bark if you want?" Ichigo smirked at her before it dropped when both Saya and Tatsuki turned to look at him with amused grins and cocked eyebrows. "That was a joke." He told them making them both sigh. "Hey don't get so depressed over it!"

"And here I thought I could put a collar on you and lead you around." Saya mused running a hand through her pink hair.

"You're a sadist!" Ichigo snapped back at her.

"I always wanted a puppy." Tatsuki added making Ichigo's eyebrow twitch as he saw her smirk.

"What do you kids want? It's miserable weather and we don't want to deal with you at the moment." The woman huffed in annoyance before Saya stepped forward.

"I've come on behalf of my father." She told them folding her arms over her large bust.

"I thought you called him Daddy." Ichigo mocked making her turn on her heel and glare at him making him chuckle lightly. "Go on, get on with it." He told her making her huff in annoyance before turning back to the woman, and now surrounding other adults that had come to listen to what was going on.

"As I said, I'm here on behalf of my father." Saya continued, glad that Ichigo hadn't stepped in with one of his mocking retorts.

"You mean the man who wants us to kill other human beings! That monster who slaughtered the man on a stage like it was a sideway carnival show!" She yelled at Saya making the three look at her as if she was the most stupidest person on earth. "You along with your father want us to become murderers!"

"She's cracked." Ichigo sighed. "Totally cracked."

"Duct tape can't even fix her." Tatsuki sighed alongside him.

"Would you two shut up!" Saya snapped back at them. "Listen Lady! They are anything but humans, their dead! Every single one of them! You get bit you die and come back as one of them!" Saya growled at her. "So please tell me how the hell that is murder!"

"They are not dead! How can people come back after they're dead and kill people! It's some type of pandemic! It will pass and the world will go back to normal! Leave it in the hands of us adults and the police." The woman told them.

"What did you say!" Ichigo snapped at her. "A pandemic? Are you fucking nuts!?" He growled out. "This thing probably isn't just Japan, it's more than likely world wide, and from all the reports it is! So please tell me how the hell you expect that to go back to normal!"

"You're just a bunch of kids! You don't have any say in this!" A man shouted.

"Fuck you ass hole!" Tatsuki barked. "We have every right to a say in this! We're going through it just like you fucking morons! We accepted it because we know what's going on! You probably haven't seen your friends die at the hands of 'them'! So don't tell us we don't have a god damn say! We've been through more shit then all of you have!"

"How many times do I have to tell you people! The dead are rising! They are killing and we have to work toget-!" Saya shouted before she was cut off.

"You can't believe all of them are dead!" A man shouted at her.

"It has to be some type of new disease, all we have to do is..." The woman started but Saya cut her off.

"Well of course it's a disease, but unless you're a surprise, top grade medical research scientist with access to a lab and even if you are, do you think the rest of us have time to wait around until your research is completed!?" Saya yelled at her, only for the woman to come back with an answer but fail at it.

"Well... it's just... uh..." The woman muttered out.

"We have to concentrate on surviving that's all! Try not to get eaten! I can't believe how idiotic you morons are being! Did you not listen to a word my father said!?" Saya growled out.

"Oh I see now!" The woman shouted a twisted grin coming to her face. "I was wondering why high school students were flashing guns around like they were cops!" She called out.

"Sword." Ichigo muttered.

"Crossbow." Tatsuki added.

"I don't have a gun." Saya dead panned.

"After all, that's what you're after, you're just saying you're going to protect us, people out here are trying to control us with violence! Violence! How dare you when there are so many people suffering in other Asian countries."

"Huh? What's world suffering got to do with this?" Saya asked before she felt a hand on her shoulder and looked back to Ichigo who just shook his head and turned for the opening of the tent.

"Let's go, these idiots aren't going to listen." Saya turned back at the woman who was now yelling out that they weren't going to be murderers. Saya simply huffed before turning on her heel and walked back out into the rain propping her umbrella out as she did so. Tatsuki and Ichigo followed after her as they walked back to the house. When the three arrived under the balcony both Ichigo and Tatsuki shook themselves off, Saya protecting herself from the droplets with the umbrella.

"You do know there was a bunch of umbrellas just at the door?" She questioned with an amused eyebrow making both Ichigo and Tatsuki grit their teeth and hold their tongues as they saw her smirk. "I'm not sure as to why you two didn't pick one up."

"You're a bitch." Ichigo huffed out in annoyance shaking his head, his hair flailing about as water went everywhere.

"So I'm told." Saya shrugged. "You two need to go shower, you're going to be walking around the house dripping wet otherwise." She continued as she saw them both dripping onto the ground. "Then Ichigo we need to speak with my father."

"Yeah yeah, I heard you. Come on Tatsuki let's go shower."

"What!" She shouted at him, her face red. "I can't shower with you!"

"What? I meant you can go first." Ichigo told her. "What is wrong with you?" Ichigo asked but she shook her head and marched past him trying to cover her embarrassment up. Ichigo just shook his head, not knowing what was going on with her. "I swear she's acting strange."

"Maybe she wanted to shower with you." Saya smirked. "I bet you wouldn't mind, right?" She asked, her smirk growing as she noticed Ichigo's blush.

"You make me out to be some kind of pervert!" Ichigo snapped back at her.

"By the way you're blushing, all I can think is that you're imagining is that you're showering with Tatsuki. What else am I meant to think?" She asked before sighing. "Geeze, you're such a pervert, I hope you don't think about the other girls that way."

"Would you quit it!" Ichigo snapped at her. "You're making me look like the bad guy here and I'm not blushing!"

"Just don't go around peeking." Saya told him. "I'm surprised you didn't peak when you had the chance the other night."

"It's because I'm not a damn pervert!" Ichigo roared at her.

"So you're a prude?" She asked, making his eye twitch. "Or you're gay? Which is it?"

"Would you just shut up! I'm not a prude! I'm not a pervert! And I'm definitely not gay!" He turned and started to walk inside.

"That's a relief." He heard Saya mutter to herself, he was going to turn around and ask her what it was about but decided to leave it and go shower before he catches a cold. He trudged up the stairs, glad he didn't have to use crutches any more, it still hurt from time to time but now all he had to worry about was the bruising on his face. Ichigo stopped and looked up the stairs to see Takashi walking down.

"Morning." Takashi greeted. "Tatsuki came up here pretty flustered."

"Yeah blame Saya for that one." Ichigo sighed. "You know where another bathroom is? I need a shower cause I'm dripping wet." Takashi nodded and directed him down another hallway, opposite to which Tatsuki had walked down. "Oh by the way, Me and Saya are going to talk with her old man after I'm done, if you want to tag along."

"Yeah, I wouldn't mind hearing what's going on." Takashi told him and Ichigo nodded his head before walking off towards the bathroom.

* * *

Ichigo, Saya and Takashi stepped into the large office of Saya's father who was sitting at his desk, he rose his head as they entered and gave them all a once over, even Saya. Ichigo placed his hands in his pockets and walked forward and sat down in a chair in front of his desk, both Saya and Takashi stood awkwardly for a moment before following in suit, sitting either side of Ichigo.

"I'm sure you're here about something important?" Souichiro asked.

"As a matter of fact we are." Ichigo told him. "It's about what we're going to do as a group."

"Hmm?" Souichiro hummed in thought as he sat back in his chair and continued to look the three over, both Takashi and Saya slightly nervous in the presence of the man while Ichigo seemed bored. "What do you mean group? Are you referring to the larger group, your smaller group or both groups?"

"Our smaller group." Ichigo continued. "After you leave that is."

"I figured you wouldn't come with us." Souichiro chuckled. "And what of you Saya?"

"I'll be sticking with my friends Daddy." Saya said determined and Souichiro just nodded.

"You are a smart girl, you are old enough now to make your own decisions." Souichiro told her. "However..." He cleared his throat. "You will be telling your mother." Ichigo chuckled lightly as he saw the man's nervous expression. "Continue Ichigo. I'd like to hear your plans. Also, Komuro, don't you and Miyamoto need to find your families?"

"Yes sir." Takashi nodded his head in agreement.

"I'd like to hear how you are going to do that." Souichiro added making Takashi sweat slightly as he was directly under the man's gaze.

"That's mixed in with our plan as a whole." Ichigo told him. "After your larger group leaves we would like to remain here." Souichiro raised an eyebrow at him and gestured for him to continue. "We would fortify the gates so that nothing could break them down, make sure that only one is able to open while the others always remained shut." Souichiro nodded in agreement. "We would have the grounds to keep livestock if we get any, use it for farming, it is large enough for it to be sustainable for a smaller group such as ours."

"Indeed it is." Souichiro smiled. "I'm guessing my daughter was the one who suggested this?" He asked turning his gaze to Saya who nodded her head.

"It was." She told him. "Ichigo is a capable leader, but he's a complete idiot."

"Hey!" Ichigo shouted at her. "I'm not an idiot."

"Fine, you're not the biggest idiot, but you are dense to some of the smaller things." Ichigo gritted his teeth but shut up all the same as Saya turned back to her father. "Is this plan all right?"

"Very well." Souichiro said. "I will allow you to use the Takagi estate as a home from this day forward. But one question still remains." He said turning back to Takashi.

"That's easy." Ichigo shrugged. "We will go and find their families and bring them back here. Then it's settled and done with."

"Then what will you do?" Souichiro asked. "Live here for the rest of your days?"

"At the moment? Yes." Saya told him. "There is nothing we can do until the dead either stop multiplying or just starve, if that's even an option for them. Right now there is an endless army of dead out there and only small groups of survivors. There is nothing we can do right now. It would be impossible to do anything right now without being slaughtered. So after we find their families, nothing else matters but survival."

"Very well." Souichiro said standing up and reaching into his breast pocket and Saya's eyes went wide as it was the master key that he pulled out from his pocket, and laid it on the table. "This key opens every door on the grounds. You will need it to continue living here." Saya nodded and reached for the key and picked it up before jabbing Ichigo in the ribs with it.

"What was that for?" Ichigo growled out at her.

"I'll hang onto this." She told him. "I won't lose it."

"You're saying I would?" Ichigo narrowed his eyes.

"Probably." She shrugged before the door opened and one of Souichiro's men was standing there slightly wet from the rain that he had probably ran through.

"Sir!" The man shouted.

"What is it?" Souichiro asked. "If you haven't noticed I'm in the middle of something."

"This is important sir! More survivors have arrived at the front gate! They have been let into the grounds and are heading to the front door as we speak!" Souichiro turned back to Ichigo.

"Follow me." Ichigo nodded his head without question, Saya and Takashi already knew what Souichiro wanted Ichigo there for and Ichigo probably knew himself. The man with the message bowed to Souichiro before leaving once more as Saya, Takashi, Ichigo and Souichiro headed down to meet these new survivors.


	16. Chapter 16

Souichiro opened the door and eyes went wide at what the four of them saw. Rei was standing, anger in her eyes, the tip of her bayonet at Shido's throat.

"... the man who wasn't phased by anything in his life apologised to me in tears. He told me I had to repeat the grade because of him but I knew you were the only one who could control the teachers' grades!" She growled at him. "But I held my temper. Because he told me that he would be able to arrest you and your father if his investigation went smoothly." She told him with narrowed eyes, the tip of the blade pointing into his neck, a small trickle of blood running down his neck. "But now. You pay." Shido's eyes were wide as she stared down at what was once one of his students, now holding a gun to him.

"W-What? Are you going to commit murder? You're a policeman's daughter for god's sake. You don't want to become a criminal do you?" Shido cried out in hope he could reason with her.

"I don't want to hear that from you!" She screamed at him.

"Then you should kill him." Souichiro said making all heads whip to the large intimidating man. "Once I had an association with this man's father, but now." He said glaring at the man in the suit. "That means nothing. If you wish. Kill him." He told her. Takashi tried to rush forward but Saeko stopped him.

"Saeko get out of the way." Takashi shouted at the sword user.

"She has to do this herself." Saeko told him. "It's her decision to make." Takashi stopped and stared at Rei over Saeko's shoulder. All eyes were on Shido and Rei, the gun blade never leaving his throat as Rei glared up at him.

"Go ahead and kill me! I welcome it! Just know when you do you will be haunted by this violent act of vengeance for as long as you live, and having you learn that will be the best lesson I could have taught you as your teacher. Do not fail this test." He told her, spreading his arms out wide simply accepting whatever fate Rei would give him as he continued to stare into her hard eyes behind his glasses.

There was silence for a good while between everyone, the tension only building as Rei didn't lower her weapon. When she finally started to lower her gun, breaths of relief were let out by almost everyone. She turned and walked towards the door where Souichiro was standing.

"Are you certain this is your decision?" Souichiro questioned as Rei stopped beside him. Ichigo's eyes glanced to Rei then to Shido and then to the students who were standing beneath a shelter not far from them and he narrowed his eyes slightly. They radiated nothing but fear.

"He's not even worth killing." Rei said glancing over her shoulder at the man shaking in fear, his breathing heavy and visible in the rain. Her eyes shot wide open as a gunshot was heard and her whole body shook in shock as she watched Shido's head fly back before his lifeless dead body fell to the ground, with a splat in the puddle beneath him from the rain.

"ICHIGO!" Shouts surrounded and Rei turned back to Ichigo who was lowering his gun, his eyes narrowed.

"I beg to differ on that." Ichigo said looking Rei in the eye, before turning to Souichiro who simply nodded his head and held a hand up to gesture for him to enter the house. Ichigo simply walked in, placing the gun in the back of his pants once more and entered the house.

"Get those students out of the rain!" Souichiro ordered his men. "Get them cleaned up and taken care of. Who knows what that bastard put them through." That was the first time any of Ichigo's group looked towards the students that had arrived with Shido and they saw exactly what Ichigo saw, complete fear in not only their eyes but their expressions and even their stances. Shido must have put them through hell, there wasn't even as many as there were back on the bus when they had stepped off to follow their so called saviour. "And get this mess cleaned up!" He ordered once more walking into the house after Ichigo.

"Rei are you alright?" Takashi asked walking up to her as she stared at the dead body of the man who had ruined her family.

"Yeah." She said shakily. "I... just need some time to myself." She told him and he nodded his head as he watched her walk inside.

"I'll check on her." Saya said and Takashi nodded his head in thanks as the pink haired girl walked in after Rei. Ishida sighed and pushed his glasses up as he watched the would be soldiers pick up Shido's body and pull him away while another two started to clean the mess up that the blood had left behind. He saw Tatsuki's face and turned to her.

"I don't know if that was the right thing to do." Ishida told her.

"He shouldn't have done it, killing is still killing. But it's done now." Tatsuki sighed. "I just hope those guys are alright." She said looking at the students being led out of the rain and into a part of the house. "It looks like they've been put through hell."

"We're lucky to have made it here with what we dealt with compared to them." Saeko sighed. "We should speak with them, they might be reluctant to tell us at first but it will be good. We're from the same school after all and we did start off in this mess together, so to speak."

"Agreed." Chad nodded his head.

* * *

"What you did out there was a questionable thing young man." Souichiro said as they walked back into his office. "However I must ask as to why you did what you did?" Ichigo sat down in the chair as Souichiro sat down on his own across the desk. His fingers lacing in front of his face as he stared towards Ichigo.

"Honestly?" Ichigo asked and Souichiro nodded his head, wanting to know the truth. "Everything about him... was just wrong, the look in his eyes, his stance, the way he talks, his actions." Ichigo shook his head.

"Actions?" Souichiro asked him. "You knew that man?"

"He was a teacher at the school." Ichigo told him. "He actually escaped with us, however..."

"Circumstances permitted that you go your separate ways?" Ichigo nodded his head in agreement. "I knew that man's father, everything you described to me I felt the same whenever I was in the same presence of that man. If he had been there instead of his son, I would have killed him as well."

"The way those other students looked..." Ichigo continued, his eyes filling with confusion as he began to try and explain what he saw. "It wasn't natural it was like they had completely changed personalities. When they were with us, they weren't openly scared like that. No matter how much they were, they never showed it. They radiated fear down there. It wasn't natural." Ichigo sighed leaning back in his chair and looking towards the ceiling before sighing in irritation. "I don't know how to explain it. It just wasn't right, and I knew somehow that man was responsible for it."

"My company and myself will be leaving early tomorrow morning." Souichiro told him. "You have the room for them, the students will remain with you." He said, his tone meant no discussion... however he was dealing with Ichigo Kurosaki.

"Say what!?" Ichigo yelled his eyes snapping to the large man's. "I figured you'd have doctors! Therapists! What's them staying with us going to achieve! They need help!" He roared slamming his hands on the desk and pushing himself up from the chair. "We don't have the resources they need to get better!"

"Our doctors will be healing our wounded, we have no therapists and dragging them through the mess out in the city will do them more harm than good. They stay." Ichigo groaned and massaged his temples before dragging his hands down his face.

"Fine." He growled out slumping back in his chair. "However, I don't see how they're going to fair here better than anywhere else." He sighed in irritation once more. Souichiro smiled and held his hand out to Ichigo.

"I hope, after this entire mess has finished, the dead are back in the ground where they belong, I can see this house standing and see that my daughter has been protected. I leave that to you Ichigo Kurosaki." Ichigo smirked and shook the large man's hand.

"Just be sure to make it back to see your daughter." Souichiro laughed and nodded his head. Ichigo rose and headed for the door.

"It's going to get a lot harder from here kid."

"I know." With that Ichigo left the room.

* * *

Shizuka closed the door behind Chad, the both of them had helped the men under Souichiro bring the students up into a room that would be fit for them. They had both seen what Ichigo had done and was just glad that Alice, Orihime and Karin hadn't been there to see him kill the man. It would have made them ask questions, and for them to question why Ichigo had done what he did. Sure everyone else there was questioning what he did, but they had the right sense of mind to not voice their thoughts.

"I don't think that it would be good for them to leave in the state that they are in." Chad said softly remembering how fearful they had been when he had approached. They had cowered away from the large teen.

"I'd have to agree with you." Shizuka said walking over to the railing and looking down to see several men carrying boxes out of the house. "Their mental state is low, I probably don't even want to guess how much they've eaten in the last few days. They looked at us with so much suspicion, as if they didn't even remember who we are." Chad nodded in agreement. "I, as a doctor can't let them leave."

"Do you want me to talk to Ichigo about it? Letting them stay that is?" Chad questioned her.

"No need." Both turned to look down the hall to see Ichigo walking up to them. "They're staying. It's already been decided." He told them.

"That's a relief." Shizuka smiled at him. "I don't think they would survive very long out there in the state that they're in now. I'm amazed that they have made it this far with how they are. It's almost a miracle."

"It was fear." Chad said softly. "It can push a person to its limits."

"But now that which has caused them fear has gone." Ichigo said his gaze lowering.

"They need to regain what they once were. I remember one of the girls, she used to be so energetic." Shizuka said. "Sure she wasn't a very nice person to some of the students, or to people who didn't like some of the idea's she made up, but she was still a nice person at heart. She just didn't know how to express herself at all." She continued. "But, she didn't deserve this."

"None of them did." Ichigo agreed with her. "Souichiro and the others will be leaving early tomorrow morning. They have left us some supplies but not a lot, we will have to go on a run soon. Shizuka, you know the town pretty well don't you?" He asked.

"Yes." She beamed. "What do you need?"

"Well firstly, food. Where would the closest convenience store be?" He asked.

"Hmm... I'm not too familiar with the area, but I do know of a large shopping shopping complex that's close by." She told him. "Not only would they have food, but clothes, and probably anything you could think of." Ichigo rose his hand to his mouth in thought. The shopping centre would be an ideal place to get supplies, but then again there would be people thinking the same thing, however...

"Good idea Shizuka." Ichigo smiled. "Let's try and keep everyone from stuffing their faces." He chuckled lightly. "I'd rather not have to go on run's daily."

"Agreed." Chad chuckled. "If anything we should try and start to grow our own food. Maybe go for a trip into the country and find livestock."

"That's not a bad idea Chad." Ichigo nodded his head in agreement. "Shizuka, do you mind looking after the students that came with Shido? They will probably want to see a familiar face more often than not."

"Alright, I can do that." Shizuka told him with a smile, Ichigo nodded his head and began to walk down the corridor once more, Chad and Shizuka watching as he left, frowns on their faces as they saw how hard he was trying to remain calm after just killing a man in cold blood.


	17. Chapter 17

Ichigo sat on his bed, his back against the wall simply staring up at the ceiling. His thoughts on what he had to do the last few days to simply survive in this cruel new world... he's had to kill three people, allowing Saeko to kill another. He had kicked Shido off the bus and allowed the other students to go after him, even after what he saw Shido do at the school he still allowed those students to go with that man. Barely half of them were alive now and were in such a state that they may not recover. They didn't have the means to treat people with such physiological issues.

He had left a man to die at the gas station, he had attacked them and without even caring... he made the man defenceless against the incoming threat and even made it so that he couldn't escape. He might has well have killed him, himself. Then he had abandoned everyone to go save Yuzu and Karin only for it to be in vain, Karin the only family he knew that was alive, his dad could have been anywhere by now. He didn't blame the group if they didn't trust him, he had just upped and left them there.

When he and Saeko had gotten taken by Nnotoria and the blonde man Ichigo had honestly thought he was going to die, that being like Nnotoria was the only way he could survive in that world but... he couldn't bring him to turn into a monster like him, to do the things he did. That was when he realised, he had already done things Nnotoria had done, albeit not for the same reasons but he had done the same. What he found the most strange about that entire situation... was that Saeko hadn't judged him, she hadn't looked away when he killed Nnotoria with the same wires he had been held captive with, she hadn't shunned away from him. She had accepted what he had done.

When he had been decided the leader of the group, Ichigo thought it was a mistake but he wasn't ready for it. To be thrust into a situation where you had to lead, that your every order could be one of your friends lives. But how could he tell them? They wanted him to be the leader so that they could rely one someone, so they didn't have to make the choice themselves... but even so. When he had thrust a gun into Hirano's face and pulled the trigger... they all had their opinions to say about that.

As soon as he had pulled the trigger and the resounding gun shot rang out and Shido's dead body hit the ground, he had seen the horror on the faces of his friends as they turned towards him. The one most horrified was undoubtedly Rei, she hadn't wanted to kill Shido but to Ichigo, just by looking at the students that had been with him face's... Shido would be the one to survive out there, to grow stronger while the weak died. Ichigo couldn't allow that to happen.

Ichigo's head shot to the door to which closed and his eyes widened momentarily to see Saeko walking over to him, he hadn't even heard the door open, to lost in his own thoughts about what had been transpiring over the days that could only be named as Hell.

"I knocked but you didn't answer." Saeko said with a frown walking over to the bedside table and flicking on the lamp illuminating the dark room with a dark orange glow. "Why are you sitting in the dark on your own for?" She questioned turning towards him, her frown still present.

"Just thinking is all." Ichigo told her. Saeko sat down on the side of the bed, her body facing Ichigo who was now once again looking up at the ceiling. "Did you need something?" He asked noticing her gaze on him once more.

"I came to make sure that you were alright." Saeko told him. "The two of us have been through hell together, and you've been through more. I just wanted to make sure everything was ok." Ichigo's gaze locked with hers before he sighed and slumped down his chin resting on his chest.

"Have I been doing the right thing?" Ichigo questioned. "Did I really have to kill Shido?" Saeko stayed quiet for some time before she placed a hand on Ichigo's making him look up at her.

"Honestly?" Ichigo nodded. "You did the right thing, we both saw what he did back at the school how he left that student to die just so he could live. Unfortunately it's people like him that will live the longest in this world." Ichigo sighed, telling Saeko he had expected as much. "Ichigo, back when we escaped from Nnotoria. I asked if you would hear me out on something." Ichigo recalled what she was talking about and nodded his head.

"We really haven't had much time since coming here have we?" He questioned.

"No not really." She smiled lightly gripping his hand tightly under her own. "Ichigo... I have never told anyone this before." She said looking into his eyes. "I'm a monster." She told him.

"What? I don't understand Saeko." Ichigo asked confused as Saeko avoided his gaze.

"Not the physical kind... but the mental one. I'm fit for this new world Ichigo to fight...to kill... it's all too easy for me." She told him. "I... I enjoy the fight, the thrill of being on the verge of death every second in the streets. To know that one wrong move can and will end it all." She continued lowering her head more, her long dark hair covering her face from his view. "When... when you killed Nnotoria... I... I don't know, I felt that you understood, I felt like you and I were alike. But it may have just been a spur of the moment, the adrenalin." She lifted her hand from Ichigo's and drew it back before she felt Ichigo wrap his fingers around her hand. She looked up to see Ichigo looking at her.

"Saeko..." He whispered out.

"It's fine, you don't have to pretend." She told him.

"I don't care about who you are, what you think you are, you're Saeko, the girl that I rescued, the one who's been on my side since the beginning." Ichigo told her a small smile gracing his face. "If you're a monster, I'm a demon. You've been able to hold yourself back from doing what you want... I haven't, although I might not have wanted to kill those people but I did, didn't I? Without a second thought without a moment's hesitation." He shook his head. "It doesn't matter anymore, simple things like morals don't matter in a world like this. It's live or die, there is no in-between." Saeko looked at him, her eyes wide as she realised he accepted her.

"Thank you Ichigo." She said lowering her gaze from his. "You don't know how much this means to me." She told him.

"Hey Saeko..." Her head rose as she locked eyes with him. "You'll be on my side right? Always?" She smiled and nodded her head before manoeuvring herself so that she was sitting beside him and rested her head on his shoulder.

"If you need to talk, I'll listen." She said gripping his hand in between her own. "If you need me to fight for you, my blade is yours." She raised his hand to her chest pushing it against her breasts. "If you want my body, have it." Saeko looked up at Ichigo to see him wide-eyed. "I told you Ichigo, I like you. Our lives can end at a moment's notice, there is no time for love, not yet." Before Ichigo could react she raised her head and captured his lips with her own. Saeko's tongue darted into Ichigo's already open mouth and toyed with his tongue, enticing him to kiss her back, which he did.

Wrapping an arm around her waist pulling her into his lap, his other hand going the back of her head as her legs wrapped around his waist. Saeko moaned into his mouth as his tongue danced into hers, winning the battle of dominance, her arms wrapped around the back of his neck before she leaned back pulling Ichigo atop of her.

When the two broke their kiss they pulled their faces away from one another, Saeko's legs still wrapped firmly around his waist, her skirt bunching up at her hips, her hair was a dazzled mess as she looked up at him with a serene smile. Her arms fell to her sides before going for the top button of her shirt but was stopped as Ichigo gripped her wrists and sat up.

"Is everything ok?" She asked looking up at him, slightly concerned he might actually reject her.

"Saeko..." He breathed out. "We need to be careful about this." He told her before her eyes widened and she giggled, bringing her hands to her mouth trying to mask them as tears came to her eyes from trying to stop herself laughing. "It's not that funny." Ichigo mumbled out, quite embarrassed.

"Sorry." She said wiping the tears from her eyes. "Here I was about to give myself away to you without even thinking about the repercussions of what it might entail in the future. I should have known better." She told him letting her hands rest on her stomach, her legs not unwrapping themselves from around Ichigo's waist. She looked up to the ceiling and took a deep breath.

"Even though we can't be together like that, I'd still like to spend the night." She pushed herself up so she was once again sitting in his lap and looked him in the eye. "Not just for my sake, but it looks like you could really use someone right now. I want to be there for you Ichigo." She said draping her arms over his shoulders. "Even if it's not intimately, we can still be there for one another." Ichigo nodded his head and she smiled before leaning in and pecking him on the cheek. The two managed to lay back on the bed, Saeko draping an arm over Ichigo's stomach as she rested her head on his chest, the blanket over them both.

Saeko soon fell asleep to the rhythm of Ichigo's breathing and heartbeat along with the gentle strokes that Ichigo made over her back with his hand as he continued to stare at the ceiling, his mind still fogged with thoughts from the past events he has had to suffer through. He looked down to see Saeko sleeping peacefully and frowned.

_"I think she needed to be comforted more than I did."_ he thought as he continued to watch her sleep before caressing her face slightly. He looked back to the ceiling and took another deep breath. _"This world has always been hell... now people can just pray on the weak without feeling bad about it."_ He said quietly to the empty room, before turning the bedside lamp off making the room completely dark as he closed his eyes.


	18. Chapter 18

Ichigo was awoken by the sounds of vehicles, several of them, he squinted his eyes as the light from the sun blasted through the small crack in the window seemingly only landing on his face much to his annoyance. He raised his arm and shielded his eyes and sighed before hearing the vehicles once more. He went to sit up before noticing the weight on his chest and looked down to see Saeko sleeping peacefully. He smiled lightly remembering how she had come to comfort him, yet had taken it upon herself to take comfort from him.

He lifted her head up and placed it on a pillow, she mumbled something in her sleep before rolling over as Ichigo slid out of bed running a hand through his bed messed hair. Straightening his clothes that he had slept in last night, he walked to the door and walked out of the room, he glanced down at the first floor to see people running about and Ichigo frowned remembering that this was when Souichiro was going to leave. Meaning that things were about to change... in a big way.

He headed down stairs careful to not interrupt anyone in their jobs, he had heard from Takashi what had happened when he had tried to help only to be shot down. If anything happened now it would only cause more problems. He walked out the front door and looked out over the estate to see buses all being lined up, people walking onto them as men gave orders and stored bags into the compartments of the buses.

"Good morning Ichigo." Shizuka's voice beamed from behind him making him look over his shoulder to see the blonde busty woman looking at a phone, he recognised it as Takashi's. "How are you?" She asked not looking up from the device, clearly annoyed with it.

"Ah, fine, and you?" Ichigo questioned wondering why the woman was so infatuated with the mobile device.

"Frustrated." She pouted at him. "I'm trying to remember Rika's number, but I just can't." She whined. "I've called several people and they weren't her." Ichigo sweat dropped at that, she could just imagine Shizuka starting a conversation with some random, and asking how they were handling themselves. The busty blonde walked up next to him and leaned on the concrete railing looking over the buses and the people filing onto them. "They're really leaving huh." Ichigo nodded his head turning back to the house, his back to where Shizuka was looking. "How are you holding up?" She questioned.

"Hmm?" He hummed as he looked down at her. "Oh, ribs are fine, most of the bruising has faded and it no longer hurts to walk." He told her, but he knew that wasn't what she meant, he could tell that by the frown that came to her face. "You and Saeko did a good job patching me up."

"Too bad that's all I can heal..." She whispered softly. "I'm no fighter, I dislike violence very much." Ichigo frowned as she continued. "I don't want to be a burden on you guys."

"You're not a burden, you're an important part of our group. Who else is going to patch us up if we get hurt." Shizuka giggled lightly and nodded her head. "Don't put yourself down like that alright? It will only make you question yourself, like you just did." She nodded again before she turned to face him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Ichigo, I'm no therapist, and I'm going to have my hands full dealing with those students that came in yesterday." Ichigo frowned as he looked away from her. "But if you ever need to talk... about anything, I'll listen and try and help you through it, whatever it may be. You don't have to handle things like this on your own. You have people here for you."

"Yeah... I guess I do." Ichigo said softly making Shizuka smile slightly. "But... I don't know if I'm ready to talk about the things I've had to do... or will have to do." He continued before walking away from her bringing a frown to her face as she watched him walk away, her hand falling back to her side from where it had rested on Ichigo's arm.

"It's taking its toll already isn't it?" Saya questioned walking up to the busty nurse looking off after Ichigo as he walked away. "Having to deal with Shido, the guy at the gas station and to top it off a couple of psychos that beat the hell out of him. He's had it rough these last couple of days."

"Not to mention him losing one of his sisters." Shizuka added making Saya's eyes widened momentarily, she had totally forgotten about that fact, she had seen how Karin and Ichigo acted, she ignored the pained look when the two were alone, how they covered their pain with masks, just to show everyone that they didn't need to worry about them. "I'm worried, if he keeps going like this... he's going to fall apart."

"That idiot..." Saya mumbled to herself. "If he falls apart what will the rest of us do?" Shizuka looked to Saya and frowned slightly.

"What about you?" Saya turned to look up at Shizuka. "Your family is leaving today, are you sure you want to remain here with us? You don't have to you know." Saya frowned slightly as she rose a hand to grip her other arm that was still by her side.

"Leaving you all here like this... who knows what you perverts would do, probably go searching through my room or something." She huffed out, a slight red tinting her cheeks as she looked away making Shizuka giggle lightly.

* * *

"You have got to be freaking kidding me." Tatsuki said with wide eyes as she stood in Saya's room the large walk in wardrobe, doors open. She was standing in front of the large wardrobe, her eye twitching in annoyance. She wanted to find an outfit that might fit her and wasn't a girly dress or skirt... However from the looks of things in Saya's wardrobe, that was going to be near impossible, at least everything inside was frilly, a dress or a skirt.

She couldn't even find a bra small enough for her chest, that only seemed to piss her off more and swear under her breath about her fellow female comrades, who all seemed to be blessed with well endowed chests, almost unbelievably so.

"Find anything?" Karin questioned where she was laying on Saya's large bed. "I already told you, Saya's a girly girl, you're not going to find shorts or anything like that inside." Tatsuki slammed the doors closed in frustration, the only thing she had found was a pair of underwear, and even that was still too frilly, but she needed a change, it didn't help that she had left her bra that she had been wearing when all of this started back at Shizuka's friends house.

"Hey..." Tatsuki started, a blush covering her cheeks at what she was about to ask the younger Kurosaki. "Do you..."

"Do I what?" Karin questioned looking up at her to see her looking embarrassed.

"Do you think Ichigo likes girls with big breasts?" Karin's face went bright red along with Tatsuki's. "Alright let's forget I ever asked!" She practically squeaked out.

"Well I wouldn't have a clue what he likes in a girl, I never really paid attention to that kind of stuff when Ichigo was around." Karin told her sitting up and scratching the back of her head. "I mean, Ichigo's never dated anyone before so I couldn't even tell you what kind of girl he likes, I've never even seen him with a porn magazine before."

"Ichigo's too much of a prude to go looking at porn." Tatsuki chuckled. "He'd probably squeal like a girl." Both laughed lightly as Tatsuki sat on Saya's bed and laid down next to Karin. Both sighed as they stared up at the ceiling, even from Saya's room they could still hear the trucks moving outside. Soon they would be left alone here, fending for themselves once again with no real clear goal except to survive. Rei and Takashi had the goal to find their families but those were the only two, they didn't know what the students that came with Shido were planning to do, but Shizuka probably wouldn't let them go until they were ready.

"Ichigo knows what he's doing right?" Karin asked softly, she had heard from Tatsuki how her brother had killed Shido. Tatsuki frowned slightly but rose up and smiled at her.

"Your brother knows what needs to be done, he always has." Karin smiled softly at that. "He may do things, that seem wrong or down right crazy, but if he does them, I'm sure he has his reasons, we may not like it but we have to remember, we were the ones who made him our leader when he clearly didn't want to be. We can't judge him on his choices he makes, one day we might have to make the same choices he is." Karin nodded her head in agreement as she pulled the gun from her pants and held it in her hands.

"Ichigo told me not to rely on this too much." The younger Kurosaki stated.

"It's better if you leave it for a last resort." Karin nodded her head as Tatsuki slid from the bed. "Now, I'm going to make a list." She said heading for the door.

"What kind of list?" Karin asked, sliding off the bed.

"Stuff that I need." She pouted making Karin laugh as she followed her out of Saya's room.

* * *

Orihime frowned as she looked over her shoulder at Chad who was leaning up against the window looking out to see the trucks and buses moving towards the gates. The large group was finally setting out to leave, they'd probably be here for another hour before leaving. Chad looked to Orihime who was seated next to one of the many beds in the room. Miku Yuuki was currently sitting up, her hands in her laps as she stared at them, she hadn't uttered a word since she had woken up to find Orihime sitting beside her.

She'd be the first to admit that she didn't like Orihime, when the large group transferred to the school a lot of the attention was put onto Orihime meaning it was taken away from her, if it wasn't for Tatsuki, she didn't doubt that she would have bullied Orihime a lot more then she had. Waking up to find the usually bubbly girl looking over her, she didn't know what to do, she hadn't said anything to either Chad or Orihime since she had awoken, and the rest of the students that had come with her were still asleep, only Miura, Taniuchi and Kawamoto had survived along with her.

She had personally watched as Shido's body had fallen to the ground, a hole in his head, however from her position she couldn't see who had killed him. She wanted to thank the shooter, what Shido had put them through... it was sick, she understood that as soon as the bus had left them on the corner, Shido changed and had immediately set out to try and find anyone. He had killed Yamada not soon after. They would have left Shido to himself, but they didn't know what to do, so they continued to follow him, they probably would have been better off on their own.

"Chad, what's going to happen now that everyone else is leaving?" Orihime questioned making the large Mexican look over to her. "We're going to be ok right?"

"We're safe here." Chad told her calmly, not wanting to frighten Miku. "We're planning to block the gates so that only one can open and even then it won't be open for very long periods of time, just long enough to get in and out with the vehicles." Orihime let out a sigh and raised her hands up to either side of her head and massaged her temples. "Would you like me to go get Shizuka? You've been looking after everyone here as best you can Orihime, but you need rest too." Orihime quickly raised her hands up and shook her head.

"No, really it's fine. I'm fine, I'm not tired at all." Chad looked her over before nodding slightly.

"Be sure to look after yourself Orihime, and don't push yourself." Orihime nodded her head and watched as Chad turned to look back out the window. Orihime turned to Miku and tried to give her a reassuring smile as she noticed the girls gaze on her own. Orihime's smile was met with only anger as Miku glared at her before turning her eyes away making Orihime frown slightly, that didn't stop her from continuing to sit by her.

* * *

"Here you go Takashi!" Hirano cheered holding the shotgun out to a slightly nervous teen. "I think this one would be more your style! It's simple, even a gun moron like you can pull it off." Takashi sweat dropped slightly as he took the gun. Hirano kept going on into detail making him groan slightly. Alice was sitting beside Ishida watching as he was looking over his quiver of arrows.

He hadn't used half of them yet, and a large portion of them were covered in blood from already using them, so he was wiping them clean, all while looking over the feathers on the end to make sure that they were still good. He'd have to find a sports store to get more arrows and supplies to fix broken arrows, maybe even more bows, he didn't exactly like this school one but it was doing alright for now.

Rei was simply sitting on the bed petting Zero as she stared out the window, not really sure what she should be doing with herself. They had all agreed to stay out of the way when the larger group was leaving. Her thoughts were still muddled on what to do when she saw Ichigo next, him having killed Shido after she had let him go... she didn't know how to take it exactly.

She glanced down to Takashi to see Hirano explaining in a long detailed version on how to properly hold the gun, he had gone over the same thing with herself and Karin with their respective weapons, he had tried to go over the crossbow with Tatsuki, however she simply aimed it at him and asked him if she pulled the trigger would it work. He simply nodded and scurried away from her. She was brought out of her thoughts as Ishida spoke to her.

"What do you plan on doing after you find your family?" He questioned as he pushed his glasses up, Alice looking at her from where she was seated on the ground next to Ishida.

"Well, it depends on their circumstances I guess." Rei told him. "I mean, they could be safe..." Ishida nodded his head as he turned his attention back to cleaning his arrows. "You really think this place will stay safe for very long?"

"For the time being, it's safe." Ishida told her. "But a number of things could happen between now and tomorrow, from tomorrow and a week from now or even a month from now. We'll just have to be ready if we do have to move. Nothing can be too certain in these times." Rei had to nod in agreement, nothing was certain and anything could happen, they had already seen that take place.

* * *

"Mummy, Daddy." Saya said standing next to Ichigo. "Good luck." She said, holding strong, not letting her tears fall. Yuriko smiled before walking forward and wrapping her daughter in a hug, Saya immediately returning it and gripping her mother tightly.

"I love you Saya, always remember that." Yuriko told her which she nodded as the older woman pulled back before reaching into a case by her feet and Saya's along with Ichigo's eyes widened at what she pulled out, a Kiku Crest Luger P08. "Take it, I just hope you won't need to use it." She smiled as Saya took the weapon. "I'm sure your friend Hirano will be able to teach you how to use it properly." Saya nodded her head as she held the gun in one hand and smiled up at her mother before she turned to Ichigo. "Please, look after my daughter Ichigo."

"I'll do everything I can." Ichigo told her, making Yuriko smile at him.

"Saya." Souichiro said stepping forward making Saya look up at him. "I have high hopes that I will be able to see you again, my daughter. You have made both your mother and me proud. We may not have shown it, but we both love you." Saya couldn't stop the tears as she smiled up at her Father.

"I love you both." She said wiping her eyes as her father turned to Ichigo.

"Ichigo, I'm leaving my daughter to you. I hope we meet again someday." Ichigo nodded and held his hand out to the large man which he took and they shook. "Good luck, if we find somewhere that we can be safe, and can sustain ourselves. We'll contact you." Both Ichigo and Saya nodded before they watched as both Saya's parents walked to the head car and got in before the entire convoy left the estate, the large gates closing behind them. Both Ichigo and Saya stood there for a short while simply staring out after the convoy before Ichigo ran a hand through his hair.

"I guess... this is how it starts." He told her, making the pink haired girl next to him nod.


	19. Chapter 19

Ichigo's eyes shot wide open as he heard the thundering footsteps down the hallways that were heading towards his room. His was the only room that was occupied down this end of the hallway within the Takagi's mansion having wanted some space from the others, from what he knew Ishida and Chad had done the same in other parts of the mansion.

Expecting the worst thing to have happened, the perimeter of the estate to have been breached by the dead, he leapt out of bed grabbed Zangetsu from where it rested against the wall and dashed for the door. Opening it widely he didn't have time to stop as Shizuka barged straight into him sending them both to the floor in a mass of limbs, Ichigo's face buried between Shizuka's large breasts which were practically popping out of her shirt since she hadn't done the buttons all the way up.

"Oh Ichigo! I never knew you to be so forward!" Shizuka squealed in glee, no terror in her voice at all. Had he just jumped to conclusions when he sprung up, or was it fear of what he would have to do if the situation arose? "I know it was a taboo students and teachers being together, but I'm still a much older woman then you, wouldn't you want someone your own age?" She questioned however she only seemed to pull Ichigo's head into her chest further, his face was starting to turn blue from the lack of air as Shizuka smothered him. Ichigo's muffling could just be heard over her squeals of embarrassment about being chased after by a younger man, a teenager to be exact.

"Mphm pmhoh hhmmp hmm!" Ichigo managed to get out making Shizuka stop and look down Ichigo forcing his head from her arms and taking a massive breath of air.

"What was that?" Shizuka questioned looking down at him, now straddling his waist, her chest mostly exposed as the dress shirt she was wearing was wide open just over the peaks of those large mounds.

"Never mind." Icihgo gasped staring at the ceiling from where he laid on the ground._ "World's gone to a zombie apocalypse hell hole and I almost die by massive breasts. Could be worse ways to go I guess..._" Shaking his head to get rid of such thoughts he looked up at Shizuka and... those thoughts were right back in his mind, as from what he could see from where he was laying was that Shizuka had only done two buttons up that covered her stomach with the rest exposed showing she was wearing no bra beneath the shirt and only a pair of black underwear over her lower body. His face was red as his eyes travelled over her exposed skin.

"You came for something Shizuka?" Ichigo questioned making the blonde woman stop her babbling and look down at him before her eyes widened in realisation as a massive smile came to her face.

"I remembered!" She squealed in excitement.

"Remembered what?" Ichigo questioned feeling the exhaustion of being woken up at such a late hour start to catch up to him closing his eyes before Shizuka pinched his cheeks making him open them again at the slight sting from her pinch and looked up into her disapproved face of being ignored.

"Rika's number! I remembered it! I was having a dream and then Rika popped up and tada! Her number!" She exclaimed happily. "So can I borrow your phone?" Ichigo looked up at her with a raised eyebrow making her tilt her head as she looked down at him. "What?"

"You come rushing in here at god knows what time to use my phone because you remembered your girlfriends phone number, when there are several other phones in this house." Shizuka giggled lightly, slightly, nervously. "Go back to bed Shizuka, ring them in the morning. She is probably asleep wherever she is." Shizuka pouted as she slid from Ichigo's waist and kneeled next to him as he sat up she rested her hands on the ground before opening her eyes as she felt something beneath her hands and looked down to see Ichigo's black sheathed sword laying on the floor.

"Ichigo?" She questioned raising the sheathed sword up to his vision making Ichigo frown slightly. "Oh my god I wasn't even thinking, I'm so sorry." She bowed her head understanding what Ichigo might have thought when he heard someone running towards his room.

"It's fine." Ichigo told her running a hand through his bed messed hair, Shizuka sure had her ditzy moments but there were definitely times she had her serious moments as well such as this one. "It was nothing so no need to worry about it." Shizuka frowned as she looked into his tired eyes.

"You haven't been sleeping well." It wasn't a question, it was a statement. Ichigo glanced tiredly at her before sighing.

"Yeah." He nodded. "Everything has just been building up I guess." He sighed standing up grabbing Zangetsu and placing the blade up against the wall before sitting on the edge of his bed, Shizuka standing up and closing the door behind her flicking the light on as she did so. She walked over and sat next to him on the bed.

"I told you Ichigo, you can talk to me about anything." Shizuka encouraged him. "There is nothing wrong with that." Ichigo glanced sidelong up at the busty blonde to see that she had a serious look on her face as she looked at him.

"I..." He managed to get out before he held his face in his hands. "I'm turning into someone I'm not!" He got out, frustration clear in his voice. "I've done things I'm not proud of! I'll do things I don't want to do! I held a gun to Kouta's head just to prove a point! What kind of person does that!?" He shook his head, his face having left his hands now being cradled in his arms hunched over slightly as Shizuka sat beside him. "Sometimes I don't even remember doing it, the moment I pulled the trigger on the gun it was like I had awoken from a dream only to watch Shido drop to the ground." His body was beginning to tremble.

"Ichigo." Shizuka started placing a hand on his back in a comforting motion and smiled lightly, even though he couldn't see it. "What you've done, you haven't done it out of spite, you haven't done it for your own personal selfish gains. You've done it to protect the people around you. I can't say that what you did was the right choice but I can't say it was wrong either. We put you on a mantle and told you to make decisions, that was selfish of us I know." She said softly feeling regret that she, the oldest of them had forced leadership onto someone younger.

"I've already screwed up." Ichigo told her. "What if staying here wasn't the right idea, what if going with Takagi's parents was the right option? How can you just take my choices without thinking about the consequences?" Shizuka frowned as she continued to rub his back in a comforting motion.

"You can't keep thinking like that, second guessing every decision you make. It's not healthy." Shizuka told him. "You make your decisions and we'll do our best to follow them. Remember, you saved Saeko and Karin. Not anyone else, you did. If it wasn't for you Karin would still be in Karakura, Saeko may be dead or worse." Shizuka shook her head. "I doubt if it wasn't for you we would have never made it this far." She told him honestly. "I'm glad you're here with us now." Ichigo sighed as he sat back up placing his hands on the mattress behind him as he looked up at the ceiling.

"Sorry, I kind of just blurted everything out just now." Shizuka simply giggled.

"I'm actually a qualified doctor, if you can't tell me who can you tell?" She asked. "And don't worry, my lips are sealed. I won't tell anyone about this and if there is anything more that you want to talk about I'll keep it confidential as well."

"Thanks Shizuka." Ichigo told her rolling his head to the side. "I mean it." The blonde nodded with a smile as she placed her hand on Ichigo's shoulder before standing up and heading for the door.

"Again Ichigo, I'm sorry about startling you." Ichigo nodded as he laid back down on the bed and rolled over as Shizuka switched off the light and left the room frowning slightly as she closed the door at what she had heard from the teen. She'd have to keep an eye on his mental state especially if he was showing signs of MPD (Multiple Personality Disorder), although she couldn't be certain if he was suffering from that or not she'd have to keep an eye on things.

* * *

"You only want to go out in small teams?" Rei asked with an eyebrow raised. "Why? Wouldn't it be better if we all go out together. That way we can have more people looking out for one another." She said making Ichigo run a hand through his hair, he knew that Rei and Takashi needed to find their families, but Ichigo's top priority right now was helping everyone here survive. Not look for survivors.

"Look, until we all get into a routine this would be the best bet." Ichigo told her, making her huff in annoyance. Shaking his head he walked away from the brunette with a scowl on his face, the first thing he had to deal with when he woke up and he was already pissed off. Rei approached him as soon as he walked out of his room wanting to know the plan of the day, Ichigo telling her that a group of them were going to find anything useful, food, clothes, anything that would help them. That only got Rei irritated that he wasn't doing anything about Takashi's and her own families.

"... there's the two, and there's the three..." Ichigo heard as he opened the front door of the Takagi mansion to see Saya, Kouta and Shizuka all standing there, Shizuka phone in hand as she pressed buttons.

"Ah would you like me to do it for you?" Kouta questioned however Shizuka seemed content to do it on her own and voiced her opinion on the matter.

"You're going to mess me up, so don't interrupt me. Kay." She told him as she continued to press buttons on the phone. After dialling the number she hit the call button and flipped her blonde hair behind her ear and rose the phone up and simply stared off into space as she listened to the dial.

"Has she been in this kinda mood long?" Ichigo questioned making Saya look over her shoulder at him.

"Since I've been up." She told him. "You alright? You look annoyed." She suggested pushing her glasses up on the bridge of her nose oddly reminding the orange haired teen of Uryu.

"I'm fine." Ichigo told her as he leaned against the rail, hearing the rings of the phone as he stood next to Shizuka.

*Hello*

"Rika! Oh thank god you're ok!" Shizuka squealed in excitement.

*Shizuka, it's good to hear your voice and that you're ok. Where are you? My place?* Ichigo heard the woman question.

"No, that place isn't safe anymore. We had to move on. Oh, we borrowed your guns and stuff." Shizuka said in an apologetic tone.

*That's ok. Just tell me where you are right now.* Rika urged.

"Umm..." She turned to Ichigo who pointed at Saya making Shizuka laugh lightly. "We're at the Takagi Estate in Tokonosu City." Saya simply huffed, not knowing how the blonde ditz had ever made it through medical school.

*Takagi? You mean the house of the Japanese Minister of Self Defence?* Rika questioned. *How in the world did you end up there?* Shizuka chuckled lightly at that. *Never mind it doesn't matter. What's the situation like there?*

"Well... I uh... I'm not exactly sure. But I'm sure I know someone who could tell you." Ichigo's eyes widened as Shizuka handed him the phone. "Tell Rika what's going on."

*Shizuka? Shizuka!?* Rika's voice growing concerned not knowing what was going on. Shizuka smiled at Ichigo gesturing for him to speak to her friend making him sigh as he brought the phone up to his ear. *Shizuka! Did you drop the phone in the toilet again!?* Ichigo had to pull the phone back from his ear.

"No need to shout." Ichigo told her.

*Who're you?* Rika questioned after a moment's pause.

"Ichigo Kurosaki, you?" He replied.

*Rika Minami, part of the Special Assault Force.*

"No wonder you had such high grade weapons at your place." Ichigo mused understanding just what kind of person she was.

*What's your situation like where you are?* Rika questioned. *Shizuka must have handed the phone to you for a reason, so I guess you could tell me something that's going on.* Ichigo sighed as he scratched the back of his head and looked around the estate.

"Well, for one the current party that's in the estate is just a bunch of high school students along with Marikawa-sensei." Shizuka instantly pouted at being called like that again, she had thought that everyone had started to call her by her first name by now. "When we got here there were more, but they left. Souichiro Takagi along with them."

*I see.* Rika mused. *What caused you to remain behind?*

"Differences in opinions of survival." Ichigo simply replied.

*Fair enough.* Rika told him. *Anything else?*

"We've barricaded all but one of the entrances, Souichiro before he left had ordered barricades set up outside of the estate's parameters. We've got four mentally unstable students that are bed ridden, thirteen that are still up and moving about. We've still got the weapons from your apartment and from what I saw yesterday in the basement several crates of dynamite. Food supplies are starting to run low and we're probably going to have to take a group into the city soon."

*I see. Shizuka was right to put you on the phone. You certainly put the situation into perspective for me.* Rika chuckled. *You certainly know what you're doi-*

*Rika! Who are you talking too!?* Another female voice called out over the phone making Ichigo raise an eyebrow.

*Nobody, now go away.* Rika's voice said before Ichigo heard scuffling. *Hey give that back!*

*I bet this is that Shizuka you're always going on about. Time to find out if it's really a man or not!* The woman laughed. *Greetings Shizuka! This is Yoruichi Shihouin, Rika's very good partner in the SAT. It's nice to finally meet you.*

"Ah well, this isn't Shizuka, but... I guess it's nice to meet you?" Ichigo questioned.

*Eh?* Yoruichi's voice came back. *May I ask who's calling?*

"Ichigo Kurosaki, I've got Marikawa-sensei right here with me."

*You could have told me you were making an ass of myself Rika!* Yoruichi shouted, gaining confused looks from the three waiting to know what was happening on Ichigo's end. *Sorry about all that, I'll hand you back over to Rika.*

*Ugh...* Rika groaned in annoyance. *Sorry, can you put Shizuka back on for me?*

"Yeah not a problem." Ichigo said handing the phone back to Shizuka. The blonde smiled happily at him as she took the phone, Ichigo standing next to Saya.

"You seem to have the most interesting conversations." Saya told him.

"Yeah, well bite me." Ichigo told her, making her shake her head in amusement. "Can you get everyone in the main room when you can? I want to take a group into the city tomorrow and grab some stuff we don't have, and it's better to have too much then dwindling supplies." Saya nodded her head as Ichigo walked back into her house. She turned back to Shizuka who was squealing in excitement jumping up and down on the spot happily making Saya raise an eyebrow.

"What's got your panties in a twist?" Saya questioned as Shizuka flipped the phone shut a wide smile on her face.

"Rika's safe and she's coming here!"


	20. Chapter 20

The bus sat silent in the large car park of the shopping mall. Ichigo sat in the driver's seat simply watching the front entrance, his head popped up on the wheel underneath his hands that were folded over one another. They had taken the bus for simple reasons, one with four of them the Humvee wouldn't be able to take supplies enough for the entirety of everyone back at the Takagi estate. Rubbing his forehead a hand clasped the back of the seat making him turn to see Takashi standing there looking out the window, shotgun strapped over his shoulder. Ichigo could see Tatsuki looking out the back window, crossbow at the ready, Chad was holding a metal baseball bat he had found in one of the caretakers rooms back at the Estate, sitting in the front row of the bus waiting for Ichigo to come to a decision.

"So what's the plan?" Takashi questioned.

"We generally have three options." Ichigo told him, gaining Tatsuki's and Chad's attention along with the shotgun wielding teen. "First option we drive the bus right into the store, grab as much as we can before we're swarmed and get the hell out, not only will this be dangerous but it will also make this place no longer accessible to us in the future."

"Last resort then?" Chad questioned making Ichigo nod at the large teen over his shoulder.

"Second option?" Tatsuki questioned from the back of the bus, beginning to walk down the aisle towards them.

"We park the bus close to the front entrance and make our way inside. Risky on the return run to bring everything back on the bus but barely any of 'them'."

"Sounds simple, and the third?" Takashi questioned.

"We drive around, find a maintenance door and sneak in through there, we can park the bus close but in doing so we're causing more sound and the door might be locked so it could all be for nothing." Ichigo muttered rubbing his forehead. "Not to mention what's in the store, for all we know it could be swarmed already, looters or god knows what else within."

"Think positive you ass." Tatsuki said looking out the window at a passing by zombie who was stumbling slightly as it moved away from the bus, it was a female police officer. "Well it's what? A hundred meters from here to the front entrance? Drive forward a bit, turn the bus around so the back door is pointed at the entrance and we'll sprint in, close the doors behind us and get trolleys ready for whatever we need to take. If anyone's inside we deal with it when and if it comes to that." She suggested.

"Sounds like a plan." Ichigo said turning on the ignition of the bus putting it in drive and swinging the bus left before putting it into reverse and swinging back to the right and reversing the bus up to the entrance of the store. Turning off the ignition and pulling the keys from where they were inserted he shoved them in his pockets and stood up out of his seat.

Chad looked up to see the orange haired teen nod making the large teen pull open the bus door and step down onto the car park and look around, a few of 'them' shambling in the direction from the sound of the bus. Tatsuki stepped down after him and started to head for the back of the bus before one of 'them' shambled from behind the vehicle making her raise her crossbow up only for Chad's hand to lower it.

"You'll waste your ammunition if you shoot randomly." He said propping the metal bat onto his shoulder.

"All yours then." Tatsuki said, stepping to the side. Chad nodded and walked forward swung back with the bat before swinging, sending the un-dead flying through the air before skidding across the ground, the automatic doors opening as the body hit the sensor, several shelving and other items had been used as a makeshift barricade around the inner entrance.

"Push it down?" Takashi questioned.

"We're going to have to." Ichigo told them, the four teens running for the doors and pushing a part of the blockade apart so that they could slip through before pushing it back into place only to be greeted with a nervously standing police woman who was holding a baton, her hands visibly shaking before slumping to her knees at the sight of the four teens.

"O-Oh my, A-Asami, I mean this o-officer thought they had gotten smart and gotten through the barricade that officer Matsushima set up!" She said astonished before looking up and gulping nervously as she caught sight of Chad and Ichigo, the very textbook definition of dangerous thugs she had learned all about in the police academy, were standing right in front of her, one holding a metal baseball bat covered in blood the other with a sword strapped to his back. Gulping nervously she scurried back as Ichigo leant down to offer his hand to her.

"Idiot." Tatsuki snapped at him pushing him to the side, swinging the crossbow onto her back she smiled and crouched down before the nervous policewoman. "Sorry, Ichigo looks worse then he actually is, Chad too." She smiled offering her hand to the woman. "My name is Tatsuki."

"A-Asami." The officer greeted her by taking her hand as they both stood up. "Asami Nakaoka, I'm part of the traffic police department." She informed her.

"People really don't like you do they?" Takashi questioned Ichigo making him scowl even more.

"It's his hair." Chad told him, as Tatsuki and Asami continued to talk. "They think he's a delinquent."

"You don't seem offended by it yourself Chad." Takashi added looking to the larger teen.

"I am who I am." Chad offered.

"It's bullshit, this is the zombie apocalypse and apparently my orange hair is much scarier then the fucking walking dead." Ichigo mumbled causing Takashi to chuckle.

"Where did you four come from?" Asami questioned looking over at the three. "Is there more of you?"

"Yes." Tatsuki nodded. "A few of us are held up at an estate not far from here." She continued. "We came here looking for supplies."

"Well tough fucking titties girlie!" A shout came from behind causing the five present to look further into the mall, a man standing there wearing a black toque, white shirt, work boots, and black jacket with black pants.

"Shimada!" Asami cried nervously. "Asami asked you to stay back!" She told him frantically. "This officer can handle this!"

"Like hell! You haven't done anything since that other bitch left!" Shimada shouted storming forward, Asami flinching slightly at the large man's brashness, before he noticed the teens held weapons and paused in his step. "Everything in this store is ours." He told them harshly.

"I'm sure even your fat ass can't eat everything here!" Tatsuki snapped back at him.

"Want to say that again you skanky bitch!" Shimada roared before Ichigo stepped in front of Tatsuki and rose his foot up kicking Shimada in the face sending him flying to the ground to their left, Asami gasping slightly at the strength of Ichigo's kick.

"I could have handled it you idiot." Tatsuki huffed before Ichigo turned around and wrapped his knuckles on her head making her whine as she rose her hands up holding the oncoming lump. "What the hell was that for you prick?!" She growled at him.

"For you being an arrogant ass." Ichigo told her. "Stop antagonising people." He sighed running a hand through his spiky orange hair before glancing over at Asami who squeaked slightly standing up straighter. "Asami right?"

"Y-Yes!" She told him with a swift nod.

"Look, we just need to get some stuff for our friends back where we are. We're running out of food quickly, we'll only take what we need." Asami looked over the four of them and saw that they weren't really bad people.

"How many of you are there?" Asami questioned.

"Seventeen all together." Takashi told her, stepping forward. "Most of us high school students from Fujimi Academy, Ichigo's younger sister and another young girl. We've got our school nurse with us." He explained. "We're held up in the Takagi estate just north of here."

"You made it all the way from the school out here?" Asami questioned.

"Yeah, it wasn't easy." Tatsuki told her. "How'd you end up here?"

"Asami was on break with officer Matsushima, we came here during the day. Everything happened so fast, Matsushima took control of the situation immediately, a lot of people went home, a handful of people here stayed. Officer Matsushima set up the barricades, she left to go and get help." Asami smiled. "She should be back soon." Tatsuki lowered her eyes as she remembered seeing the policewoman that had been turned when they had been on the bus still deciding what to do. Chad placed a hand on her shoulder making her look up at him only to see the large teen shake his head, as if knowing she was about to say something to the young policewoman.

"How long ago was that?" Tatsuki questioned.

"Yesterday." Asami told them. "She shouldn't be long now, officer Matsushima is a really good policewoman." She smiled. "Much better than this officer. When the reinforcements get here we can all go up to the estate together and get everyone."

"I'm sorry, but we don't know how long that'll be." Ichigo told her. "We'll just get what we can and head back, you can tell the reinforcements where we are but we can't wait here." Asami looked over the four before nodding with a small smile.

"If Asami can help in anyway, don't hesitate to ask." She told them before walking over to Shimada and helping him up. "Come on Shimada let's go to today's meeting." The two walked away from the four teens.

"Well, let's get started." Takashi suggested before the four walked into the shopping mall. Going up to the second floor Tatsuki kept an eye on the doorway that Asami and Shimada had gone down which would probably lead to a maintenance room or security room, they would more than likely let the other survivors know that they were here, it could go two ways, either the others would just accept it or there could be anger towards them.

In situations like this it was hard to tell. Chad had questioned if Tatsuki wanted him to go with her however after the three males found out what she was going to look for they simply found other things to find. Yep, even in a zombie infested world no guy wanted to go shopping with a girl.

"Bunch of idiots." Tatsuki mumbled as she pulled the list that the girls had all written down on for her, after hearing that Ichigo was only taking three people with him they all opted for a girl to go so they could pick up, female necessitates. Heading into the pharmacy she began to walk down the isles finding what she needed. A knock brought her back and she looked over her shoulder to see Ichigo leaning on one of the shelves, a tired expression on his face.

"You alright?" He questioned.

"Yeah." She said turning back to the shelves pulling several things off and placing them in the basket she was carrying. "You?"

"Peachy." He sighed as he walked down the aisle. "Probably should check for medicine in here, Shizuka said it would probably do well to stock up on some."

"You'll be looking behind the counter then." She told him. Ichigo nodded as he passed by her, Tatsuki watching him as he went before he walked around the counter. "Hey Ichigo..." Tatsuki started.

"Hmm?" He glanced up at her making her cheeks redden slightly.

"Uh... well... these! Do you think we need them?" She questioned grabbing something off the shelf quickly, without even looking at what she had grabbed before holding it out to him, his eyes went wide as a blush covered his face. "What? Do we need them or not!?" She huffed before she glanced at the item in her hand and her eyes went wide before she threw the condoms back on the shelf. "Never mind!" She said looking back to the shelf with wide eyes. "The hell!?" She screamed in her mind. "What the fuck we need condoms for! You're the biggest idiot ever!"

"Uh well... I mean..." Tatsuki looked up to see Ichigo scratching the back of his head awkwardly. Tatsuki raised an eyebrow at him.

"You plan on getting lucky?" She questioned with slightly narrowed eyes.

"We'll it's better to be safe, right!?" Ichigo shouted at her. "I mean, who knows what's going to happen." He told her. "Just do what you want." He finally huffed out in annoyance.

"Fine." Pushing the basket up level with the shelf she pushed her arm and swiped basically every condom packet into the basket. "Are you happy now you pervert?" Ichigo sighed as he rubbed his forehead in irritation, he turned his back and went about searching for medical supplies, having grown up around a clinic with his Dad he had some knowledge of medicines and with some help with a short list from Shizuka about more serious medication he was able to get a fair amount of supplies.

Walking around the counter he purposely walked down an empty aisle to avoid Tatsuki however the two bumped into one another at the entrance of the hall.

"Here." She huffed pulling a discarded trolley along from within the pharmacy. "Shove all that in here." She told him as she emptied her own basket into the metal cart. Doing the same both walked down the mall towards a large clothing store. Tatsuki looked over the list from the girls and smiled as she saw Alice's little side note reading 'dog food'. The smile faded from her face as she glanced up at Ichigo to see him with a far away look on his face. "Ichigo, you alright?"

"What?" He asked turning back to her, blinking a few times.

"Are you alright?" She questioned again.

"Yeah, let's just go." He told her walking ahead making her frown slightly. He'd been acting strangely ever since he returned from Karakura Town with Karin, without Yuzu. Frowning she continued after her oldest friend.

_"Sometimes I didn't know how to act around him in the last few days. It's like he was changing along with this world and everyone was taking too long to do so and he was getting ahead of everyone, the only one who seemed to be beside him all the time during this change was Saeko."_ Tatsuki didn't know what it was but she didn't fully trust the other sword wielder, there was just something about her that was... off.

Walking into the clothing store Ichigo was looking over a pair of jeans making her shake her head in amusement.

"I'm sure they're easy to get blood out of." She told him, making him chuckle slightly.

"Got to look for the post apocalyptic deals these days, some are even a hundred percent off." He told her making her laugh as she went about looking for clothes, something she herself desperately needed. Heading over to the woman's section she sighed regretting coming for this very reason. Pulling the list back out of her pocket that also had all the girls sizes on it. Looking over every single size her eyebrow only twitched more.

_"There is no freaking way Shizuka's are real."_ She thought to herself as she stared at the size next to Shizuka's name. Looking over to Ichigo atop of the clothes racks she saw that his attention was elsewhere raising her hands up she cupped her own breasts with a scowl on her face as she massaged them slightly through her shirt, silently wishing them to be bigger.

"What are you doing?" Squeaking at the sudden voice she turned around to see Takashi standing there with a raised eyebrow.

"Nothing! Shut up! Go away!" Takashi simply shrugged as he fixed the shotgun strap over his shoulder before heading over to Ichigo, Tatsuki breathing a sigh of relief before hanging her head in embarrassment.

"Yo, Ichigo. Chad's got a couple of trolleys full of food and what not. He's ready to head out when we are." Takashi told the orange haired teen. "You guys got anything needing to go down?"

"Yeah, take this." He said gesturing to the trolley that Tatsuki had left next to him, Takashi raising an eyebrow at the packets and packets of condoms. "Don't ask." He sighed.

"Righto."

"We'll get the stacks of clothes for everyone and head down. Shouldn't be more than twenty minutes." Ichigo explained to him.

"Right, want us to pack everything into the bus, save us making a desperate run all at once?"

"Might be worth it." Takashi nodded. "Just try to keep sound to a minimum." Ichigo suggested. "Anything gets close to the bus deal with it."

"Sure thing." Takashi said before taking the trolley and heading back to where Chad would be waiting. Turning to Tatsuki he saw that she was looking at different bras, a scowl on her face as she did so. Going about getting clothes for the guys and judging sizes but what he assumed they would wear he grabbed another trolley throwing it all in one as he made his way around the clothing store. Tatsuki sighed as she threw all the bras she had collected into a trolley and headed for a different section of the shop, the trolley half full just of underwear.

_"The girl to guy ratio is way off. I've already got enough trouble dealing with Ichigo, I don't want others hanging off him like a bad smell, hell I suspect Shizuka is going to try and seduce him."_ She thought clenching her hands around the bar on the trolley. _"And to top if off two more women! Fully grown women are coming!"_ She mentally groaned referring to Rika and Yoruichi. Ichigo was hell of a catch and if those two were anything like Shizuka or any of the other girls, there was going to be trouble.

"Oi stop daydreaming." Ichigo called out making her head snap in his direction to see him looking over to her. "I'd rather get back before night fall, so I don't want you going down the shoe isle any time soon either." He smirked at her.

"Fuck. You." She couldn't help but hold the grin off her face. "I could use a new pair of heels."

"Bullshit, I have never seen you in a pair of heels Tatsuki."

"Ask me out on a date and you might see me in a pair Ichigo." She stuck her tongue out of him making them both laugh before they heard someone running. Turning their attention to the front of the store they saw Asami running towards them frantically. Dropping what they were holding they ran to where she was coming from.

"Your friends! They're getting into an argument with the others!" The policewoman cried frantically.

"Damn it!" Ichigo cursed before bolting out of the clothing store. Tatsuki turned to Asami who was catching her breath.

"I tried to stop them but Shimada egged them all on. I couldn't do anything." She said in an apologetic tone.

"It's fine." Tatsuki said, not even believing in her own words. "Come on, let's go and see if we can help." Asami nodded and followed Tatsuki out of the store before a gunshot rang out through the mall. Tatsuki's blood ran cold, the first thought running through her mind was that Ichigo had just shot someone.


End file.
